Meet the campaigners battling for water improvements across Yorkshire

Whether it’s for just a little paddle to cool your feet, or you intend on taking the plunge and going for a proper swim, when the weather is as hot as it has been this summer there are few things more appealing than an outdoor dip.

Yorkshire, of course, enjoys more than its fair share of beauty spots. Miles of coastline, idyllic rivers with endless banks to dry off on, natural pools with waterfalls - the region should be nothing but a paradise for wild swimmers and families.

But in common with so many of the country’s waterways, over recent years there has been an outcry over the state of the region’s rivers and seas.

Leakages and sewage pollution have both contributed to high levels of bacteria being found in the water - often tested by dedicated campaigners and volunteers.

Yorkshire Water’s reputation has been beleaguered over recent years to say the least. Earlier this month, its results revealed that it was responsible for some 260 sewage incidents over the past year, an increase of 72 per cent compared to the previous year’s results.

It is understood that the water board is set to be downgraded to a one star rating by the Environment Agency later this year.

It’s fair to say then that triumphs for water campaigners - notably featured in Channel 4 docudrama Dirty Business - have been few and far between in the region.

Earlier this year, it was announced that along with the River Wharfe in Ilkley, the Swale near Richmond has been given designated bathing status by the Government.

But, as campaigners explain, the battle is far from won.

It’s one that Professor Becky Malby has been fighting for years. Central to the campaign to the campaign for the Wharfe near Ilkley to receive official bathing status, Professor Malby has also founded the Sewage Campaign Network.

Her focus now is pushing for a referendum to bring water in public ownership - and her anger against Yorkshire Water is palpable.

The water company has come under intense criticism over the past few years on its management of sewage overflow.

Last year, it was slapped with a £40m enforcement package, to be paid over a period of five years, after the regulator Ofwat found “serious failures” in its operations.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, Professor Malby said: “People expect to go to rivers and seaside, with their kids, and be able to paddle, play and swim.

“You’d expect kids to be able to paddle around not be worried about whether they’re going to be puking in the evening or in hospital.

“It’s outrageous. We’re not a third world country.

“We know water is cleaner, fairer and cheaper in public ownership.

“We’ve taken this to Parliament five times in last year.

“We’ve shown this to the Minister for Water. A monopoly private equity system run by overseas shareholders cannot be regulated.

“There is no question that public ownership, which the rest of the world has, takes out all the profit motive.

“Our water system is crumbling. We’re paying between eight and 12 per cent interest on water company debt. They reported they were maintaining our sewage system but they were lying.”

For Robin Norton, the battle is not one that should be fought solely in popular swimming spots, but in city centres too.

Mr Norton is a keen rower on the River Ouse in York, and also has joined Surfers Against Sewage, a nationwide campaigning group.

He’s determined to raise awareness of sewage issues around the city.

Mr Norton said: “The River Ouse looks great - most of the time, but a lot of what is happening with sewage is out of sight and out of mind.

“My assumption was if there was sewage, it was downstream near Bishopthorpe. The reality is that there are combined sewer overflows through the centre of York - two right next to Lendal Bridge.

“In theory, they only release rainwater and sewage in exceptional circumstances. We know when there is sewage and rainwater collectively coming out. It isn’t always when it’s been raining.

“Our city is being used to hide untreated sewage. Yorkshire Water are incapable - they haven’t invested. It’s gone in dividends. This is all money that British water bill payers that hasn’t put to the use it should have been.

“Profit has been put before nature.”

Mr Norton, who works in market research, said that people he knows have been hospitalised due to ingesting water from the Ouse.

He said: “Two rowers have been hospitalised by water borne illness and others have caught eye infections.

“There’s a lot of risk attached to rowing, I capsized just over a year ago - I was lucky. We get people sick from being splashed in the mouth.”

The rise in citizen campaigning, and volunteer data collection about water quality, has spread from the coastline to inner cities.

And a leading regional charity has also enlisted the public to help them understand pollution in Yorkshire’s rivers.

Ana Cowie, manager of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Rivers to Reef project, explained that the charity is trying to protect the region’s waterways.

She said: “Pollution in one environment can undermine brilliant work happening in another.

“For example, the ecological condition of the Humber Estuary has been classified as unfavorable for more than a decade, so it’s really important that we are tackling pollutants all the way from source to sea.

“We’re focussing at the moment on two key rivers, the Derwent and Aire, but our long term ambition is that this could be a Yorkshire-wide movement.

“We’re asking people to test for nitrate info and phosphates along those two rivers to try and get a really cohesive picture of the situation as it currently stands.

“Everyone can play their part in protecting our waters, whether it’s rivers or seas.”

Asked whether it should be the role of volunteers to collect water quality data as opposed to regulatory bodies, Ms Cowie said: “Both the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water do need to be collecting this data.

“We want to work positively with them to achieve change, and if we are seeing any issues or sources of pollutants, we will be communicating that and expecting that actions are taken.”

For its part, the water board has launched an AI-backed project to allow water testing to take place in real time.

If successful, the two-year project could transform how water quality is currently monitored at inland bathing sites, giving swimmers, paddlers and other recreational river users clearer, quicker and more accessible information than ever before.

The project combines current, manual flow and water quality monitoring with 2-years of AI machine learning to create a predictive model of water quality in real time

This real-time data is combined with the results of water samples, taken 4-times per week at each individual site, which have been lab-tested for the presence of harmful bacteria such as E.Coli and Enterococci.

Faye Cossins, Coastal Delivery & Engagement Manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “We know that people are passionate about their Yorkshire rivers and waterways, and they rightly want clearer, quicker information about water quality. This project has real potential to give communities near real‑time insights so they can make confident, informed decisions about taking a dip.”