Water quality is a pressing issue that affects both the environment and public health. There are many sources of water pollution including agricultural runoff, industrial pollution and discharges from water companies. Numerous citizen science projects have sprung up to monitor the quality of rivers and to highlight the issues, Coquet River Action Group is one of these.

There are numerous sources of information about water quality and associated issues and we’ve brought some of these together in one place. If you know of other links that would be useful, please email the details to Northumberlandgreenhub@gmail.com.

Water Quality Data

The State of our Rivers
This report, produced in 2024 by The Rivers Trust, provides a comprehensive review of the state of the UK’s rivers together with the factors impacting river health. It includes interactive maps to look at river quality by area.

State of our Rivers – interactive version
Full of information, facts and interactive maps, this is a great place to start understanding what’s happening in our rivers.

Environment Agency Catchment Data
A comprehensive database of Environment Agency data on all river catchment areas. Includes the number of water bodies, ecological status, chemical status, groundwater status, local challenges and objectives for each catchment. For individual water bodies it provides detailed information about ecological and chemical status.

Rivers Trust Sewage Map
This interactive Sewage Map provides Event Duration Monitoring data which detects when untreated sewage is discharged into the environment. It includes an explanation of the data, how spills are counted and what can be done about it.

Live Storm Overflow Data
Northumberland Water’s interactive digital map showing up to date information on storm overflows across the north east.

Recent Articles

Sewage pumped into the sea at Whitburn
More than a million tonnes of raw sewage is estimated to have been released from a pumping station into the North Sea at Whitburn in 2023.

Water firm to use AI to improve river quality
Northumbrian water has been awarded funding to work with an IT partner to track river health trends and pollution problems.

Government seeks to introduce flouridation to the north east
Plans to expand water fluoridation to 1.6 million more people in the County Durham area to prevent tooth decay are to be discussed. The plans are currently out for consultation. Some areas in Northumberland already receive fluoridated water, including Alnwick, Hexham and Cramlington.