Water pollution and recreational waters
Pollution in or near a watercourse should be reported directly to the Environment Agency's incident hotline: 0800 80 70 60.
The Environment Agency is responsible for maintaining or improving the quality of fresh, marine, surface and underground water in England and Wales. It aims to prevent or reduce the risk of water pollution wherever possible, and to ensure that pollution is cleaned up if it might lead to effects on people or ecosystems.
Although the Environment Agency has overall responsibility for recreational waters, in instances where blooms of blue / green algae grow, we respond to protect public health by notifying the public. This is usually done by placing signs at any affected water body warning of the dangers of swimming in / using such waters.