Doing right by our water
Playing our part in Rivers for Recreation.
Our rivers are already wonderful places to be. And over the last few years we’ve worked hard to play our part in improving stretches along the River Leam in Warwickshire and the River Teme in Shropshire, making them even better for everyone.
You don’t have to be a swimmer to benefit from improved water quality in rivers, maybe kayaking, fishing, paddle-boarding or enjoying watching local wildlife is more your thing. People and wildlife can both benefit from the work we’ve done through this programme.
This is just one part of our Get River Positive campaign, working with local communities to protect our wonderful rivers for future generations and make them even better places to be for everyone.
Bathing rivers
What we've done
As part of our Green Recovery programme, we’ve invested £78million to improve our network that will directly benefit 49km of rivers in Shropshire and Warwickshire.
This means improved water quality in multiple rivers in Warwickshire including the Leam near Leamington and the Avon from Coventry down to Stratford. In Shropshire we’ve made improvements to water quality in the river Teme from Knighton, down through Ludlow to Tenbury Wells.
Our rivers are important to us. They’re where we get our wonderful water from, after all. And they mean everything to local communities, as well as the wide range of wildlife that call them home.
We know many of us use these rivers already as popular swimming spots and for other recreational activities. So the work we’ve done to improve water quality will make them even better for everyone – no matter how they use them.
As a water company we rightly have a part to play in bringing rivers in our region up to scratch, but water quality can be affected by anything that washes into rivers.
In each area we’ve worked closely with farmers, local authorities and other stakeholders. In many cases they have an even bigger impact on rivers than we do.
We’ve also been lucky throughout the project to have worked closely with the local councils, business’ and communities who’ve rolled up their sleeves too. Working alongside Severn Rivers Trust we were able to educate and collaborate with the community to make changes to protect rivers. This included school visits, litter picking, water quality testing and information sharing at events.
This is a ground-breaking project – literally. We’ve broken ground in multiple locations across Shropshire and Warwickshire to improve our network – installing new pipes, pumps and storage. All these changes mean we can transport, store and treat more sewage in these areas than ever before. Sewage that in storm conditions previously may have ended up – along with a LOT of rainwater – in local rivers.
We’ve also gone one further. At three sewage treatment works we’ve installed Ozone treatment, a UK first for wastewater treatment. Ozone helps rivers by removing more micropollutants such as ibuprofen and we’re working closely alongside the Environment Agency to monitor these improvements in the River.
ECIE Risk Forecast Tool
The E.coli and Intestinal Enterococci (ECIE) Risk Forecast Tool is a new initiative by Severn Trent to share more information about rivers in specific trial locations in our region.
The ECIE is a tool designed to forecast the levels of two types of bacteria, E. coli and Intestinal Enterococci, in rivers. These bacteria can arise from a variety of sources, including sewage treatment final effluent, fields, roads and animals. There are also other factors that can impact river water quality beyond these bacteria which are beyond the scope of this tool.
Bathing Rivers Newsletters
Throughout the programme we shared regular updates with interested stakeholders. You can read them.
Water Industry National Environment Plan (WINEP)
Going even further
Improving our rivers and introducing bathing quality areas is a great step forward. But we still have some way to go; in the UK only 14% of rivers hold ‘good’ ecological status. We don’t think that’s good enough.
In March 2022 we announced our Get River Positive pledges – putting in writing our commitment to protect and improve the quality of the rivers in our region.
We’re also going to invest a massive £168million in our WINEP between now and 2025. On top of creating bathing quality rivers, we at Severn Trent want to make an even bigger difference across our region.
We’re bringing forward investment by up to five years, looking to improve a staggering 500km of rivers in total. Some of our work will include: