Water Quality & Monitoring

Here you can find out a bit more about sewage discharges and water quality.

Sewage and Water Quality

You will have seen lots in the news recently about raw sewage being discharged into our waterways. You can find out more on the Rivers Trust Interactive Sewage Map and on the FLOW CIC website.. There is a combined sewer overflow operated by Wessex Water a couple of hundred meters above the town bridge. This released diluted untreated sewage for 191 hours in 2022 (400 hours in 2021) during time of high rainfall and high groundwater levels, you can see exact date and duration of the events here.

As you can see this is mostly during the winter months. Wessex Water have committed to providing live alerts for all their inland sites by the end of 2023, and we’ll be sharing this information. Until this time we recommend avoiding entering the water for at least 48 hours after rainfall.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO SEE THE BACTERIAL SAMPLING DATA FROM FORDINGBRIDGE

VIEW DATA

Water Quality Monitoring

We are carrying out our own bathing water monitoring weekly throughout the summer, looking at levels of dangerous coliforms within the water. We’ll be sharing this here when we have enough data. We are also checking the water for nutrients, which don’t directly affect swimmers but impact on the wider health of the river.

We’re looking for local businesses to help us purchase a water quality monitoring kit for the Fordingbridge Wild Swimming group. The total cost to sample twice a week is £380, although any contribution to this is greatly appreciated. Ringwood Angling Club also monitor water quality monthly just upstream of the park.