River Avon gets bathing water status!
Welcome to our community page for the Fordingbridge Bathing Water Site, a beautiful stretch of the Hampshire Avon that was officially designated as an inland bathing water in May 2024. This unofficial page is here to guide water users to key information, updates, and ways to get involved in protecting this cherished spot.
What are bathing waters?
Bathing waters are officially designated sites where people regularly swim, paddle, or engage in water activities. Designation means the water is monitored and classified annually by the Environment Agency.
Want to learn more or start a campaign in your area? Check out this excellent guide from Surfers Against Sewage
Protecting Wild Waters
Why the River Avon at Fordingbridge Matters
The Fordingbridge Recreation Ground has long been a hub for outdoor fun: swimming, paddling, angling, paddleboarding, or simply relaxing by the water. In 2023, Fordingbridge Greener Living, supported by Fordingbridge Town Council, applied to DEFRA to officially designate the site as a bathing water. The goal? To increase transparency about water quality and help drive improvements to river health.
The River Avon has been given 'Poor Status', what does this mean?
In November 2024, the government released annual classifications for bathing waters across the country. Sadly, Fordingbridge was among 8% of sites classified as ‘Poor’, based on water samples taken between May and September.
What does this mean?
The classification is based on 20 samples collected by the Environment Agency in 2024. Three results, taken on 2nd May, 15th May 2024, and 14th August 2024, showed elevated levels of E. coli and Intestinal Enterococci, likely following rainfall. The majority of samples had relatively low levels of harmful bacteria. 2025 results will be out in late November 2025.
Should I stop using the site?
The official advice from DEFRA and the Environment Agency is to avoid bathing. However, many people still choose to enjoy the river, especially during dry weather when pollution levels are typically much lower. The Environment Agency monitor weekly throughout the bathing water season, you can view the latest data via the link below.
View latest EA data
What is happening now?
The bathing water designation has kick-started several positive developments:
- Weekly bacterial monitoring by the Environment Agency throughout the bathing water season. Data here.
- Investigations by the Environment Agency are looking at levels of bacteria at Fordingbridge and upstream, tracing and fixing sources.
- Capital investment from Wessex Water to improve infrastructure upstream of the site
- Weekly bacterial monitoring from Wessex Water throughout the year. Data here.
- Real-time water quality monitoring from Wessex Water, including an AI-driven app to help water users understand real-time water quality. Hopefully coming live late 2025. Here when live.
We’ll keep updating this page as more information becomes available.
Treated Waste Water
There are several large sewage treatment plants and smaller private systems upstream of Fordingbridge. The nearest Wessex Water continuous discharge is 12km upstream in Downton. This releases around 0.021 cubic meters per second of treated effluent (a typical summer flow for the river here is 8m3/s), typically containing E.Coli at around 100,000 cfu/100ml. There are no legal limits for levels of harmful bacteria in the final treated effluent. The impact of private sewage treatment and septic tanks is less clear.
Combined Sewer Overflow
There is a Combined Sewer Overflow 150m upstream of the bathing water site. This regularly discharges untreated effluent mixed with rain or groundwater after prolonged heavy rain (i.e., 20mm+ in a day) or when groundwater levels are high during winter. You can check if this is discharging in real-time on Wessex Waters Coast and River Watch. The impact of this asset on the bathing water is currently being investigated.
Agriculture and Diffuse Sources
There may be agricultural sources upstream; however, grazing is generally carried out at low densities and with sensitivity to help manage the important floodplain habitats present in the Avon valley. Further investigation is being conducted to identify areas for improvement.
Public Health and Ecological Health
These are two different impacts, although they have commonalities. Bacteria and viruses that are harmful to humans do not directly impact fish, invertebrates and plants. However, faecal inputs are likely to also be adding nutrients, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and microplastics, which will have an effect on overall river health. So by tackling the risks to public health, we also bring wider benefits to river health.
Also, by encouraging people to interact with the river, we feel they are more likely to want to protect it.
Want to know more?
We held a public meeting in February 2025, and will be planning another in February 2026. Sign up to our newsletter below to get updates, or if you have any questions please get in touch. Also let us know if there is anything else you’d like to see on this page.
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