Much needed information
Excellent information, much needed in this current climate of water companies and their bad behaviour!
Tells you what you need to know
Always informative, clear and useful. Just a shame there’s need to check water quality so often before swimming.
Such an important app
This is such an important app for anyone who swims in the sea or wild swims. Thanks so much for creating it!
Lord Alfred
Very clear and informative App
Great to have the insight and knowledge provided
Great to have the insight and knowledge provided
Check before you swim!
If you get in the water in the uk, this is the app for you. See if raw sewage is discharging live. You can also see the disgraceful performance of the water companies across the country
Polly
The app history doesn’t align with how often pollution alerts are issued. It’s very confusing to decide whether the info is up to date or not
Excellent Resource!
This app takes the place of multiple websites. So useful if you go in/on the water! Thanks so much.
Prosecute the perpetrators - AI guidance
You have hit on the exact legal and moral contradiction at the heart of this issue. You are absolutely right: in principle, causing death or injury through negligence, especially when the risk is "reasonably foreseeable," has always been a potential criminal offence—most notably Gross Negligence Manslaughter (GNM) .
The reason it hasn't been applied to water company executives isn't because the law of negligence didn't exist, but because of a specific set of legal hurdles that made it almost impossible to pin that criminal negligence on a specific person in a boardroom. Here is why the "foreseeability" argument hasn't yet led to handcuffs.
⚖️ The "Foreseeability" Principle Does Exist
Your understanding is supported by landmark cases. In the famous Cambridge Water Co v Eastern Counties Leather [1994] case, the House of Lords established that for environmental damage, foreseeability of harm is a key requirement for liability . The courts have explicitly recognized that liability should not apply to the "entirely unforeseeable."
Furthermore, the law has long provided for corporate manslaughter. A barrister's profile lists numerous cases where company directors have been investigated or charged with Gross Negligence Manslaughter following deaths on farms, in adventure sports, and on construction sites . There is even a reported case of a swimming pool company president being charged with manslaughter after a child died because safety devices were not installed .
🚰 Why Weren't Water Bosses Charged?
If the law existed, why didn't it stick to water companies? The Thames Water case from 2021 is a perfect example of the problem. The company was fined £2.3 million for a sewage leak that killed over 1,100 fish. The judge explicitly called the pollution "entirely foreseeable" . Yet, no one went to jail.
Here is the barrier that protected them:
· The Causation Wall: To secure a manslaughter conviction, you must prove the negligence caused the death. If a river is polluted, is the cause of death the sewage, or is it the fact that a child fell in? Linking a specific boardroom decision (like under-investment) directly to a specific death is legally very difficult .
· The Corporate Veil: Prosecutors historically charged the company (Thames Water Utilities Ltd), not the director. The company paid the fine, and the individuals walked away .
· Lack of Intent: While "foreseeability" existed, proving the level of negligence required for a crime (gross negligence) against a CEO who never visited the site was a mountain prosecutors weren't willing to climb—until now.
🛢️ The Blueprint for Prosecution
It is possible to put executives in prison for water-related crimes, as shown by a recent US case that provides a stark contrast to the UK's history.
In April 2025, an oilfield company vice president, Trent Day, was sentenced to five months in prison . An employee and his wife died from hydrogen sulfide poisoning. The executive admitted he should have controlled the emissions as part of his duties and that his failure placed others in "imminent danger of death" .
This proves that the legal theory you mentioned—holding individuals criminally accountable for foreseeable environmental deaths—is workable. The UK's new Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 finally mirrors this approach by making it a crime for executives to obstruct or cover up pollution, effectively turning "foreseeable neglect" into a personal, jailable offence.
I hope this clarifies why the principle existed but the practice failed. The legal wall protecting them is now much lower.
The reason it hasn't been applied to water company executives isn't because the law of negligence didn't exist, but because of a specific set of legal hurdles that made it almost impossible to pin that criminal negligence on a specific person in a boardroom. Here is why the "foreseeability" argument hasn't yet led to handcuffs.
⚖️ The "Foreseeability" Principle Does Exist
Your understanding is supported by landmark cases. In the famous Cambridge Water Co v Eastern Counties Leather [1994] case, the House of Lords established that for environmental damage, foreseeability of harm is a key requirement for liability . The courts have explicitly recognized that liability should not apply to the "entirely unforeseeable."
Furthermore, the law has long provided for corporate manslaughter. A barrister's profile lists numerous cases where company directors have been investigated or charged with Gross Negligence Manslaughter following deaths on farms, in adventure sports, and on construction sites . There is even a reported case of a swimming pool company president being charged with manslaughter after a child died because safety devices were not installed .
🚰 Why Weren't Water Bosses Charged?
If the law existed, why didn't it stick to water companies? The Thames Water case from 2021 is a perfect example of the problem. The company was fined £2.3 million for a sewage leak that killed over 1,100 fish. The judge explicitly called the pollution "entirely foreseeable" . Yet, no one went to jail.
Here is the barrier that protected them:
· The Causation Wall: To secure a manslaughter conviction, you must prove the negligence caused the death. If a river is polluted, is the cause of death the sewage, or is it the fact that a child fell in? Linking a specific boardroom decision (like under-investment) directly to a specific death is legally very difficult .
· The Corporate Veil: Prosecutors historically charged the company (Thames Water Utilities Ltd), not the director. The company paid the fine, and the individuals walked away .
· Lack of Intent: While "foreseeability" existed, proving the level of negligence required for a crime (gross negligence) against a CEO who never visited the site was a mountain prosecutors weren't willing to climb—until now.
🛢️ The Blueprint for Prosecution
It is possible to put executives in prison for water-related crimes, as shown by a recent US case that provides a stark contrast to the UK's history.
In April 2025, an oilfield company vice president, Trent Day, was sentenced to five months in prison . An employee and his wife died from hydrogen sulfide poisoning. The executive admitted he should have controlled the emissions as part of his duties and that his failure placed others in "imminent danger of death" .
This proves that the legal theory you mentioned—holding individuals criminally accountable for foreseeable environmental deaths—is workable. The UK's new Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 finally mirrors this approach by making it a crime for executives to obstruct or cover up pollution, effectively turning "foreseeable neglect" into a personal, jailable offence.
I hope this clarifies why the principle existed but the practice failed. The legal wall protecting them is now much lower.
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River water quality
I’ve down loaded the app to be able to check my local River Rother at Wittersham and Newenden but I can’t seem to find data ?
Necessary
As a cold water swimmer this information is vital for safe swimming as well as for surfers.
So useful
Thanks SAS! Super useful for me and my family getting in the water safely
Highly recommend- thanks SAS!
I use the app to check if there have been any sewage discharges before heading to the beach so I can make an informed decision about whether to go in or what beach to visit. It shows at a glance whether there are any water quality alerts, highly recommend- you can also report pollution incidents and upload a photo.
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Best real time app
Massive help if you swim, paddle, surf or just float in the seas or rivers, every day or once a year; stay safe & healthy, maintain your well being!
A must have app!
Fantastic to have this information at your fingertips. I check it every time I want to go for a swim to make sure there’s no active sewage discharges. It’s also great to check local facilities and tide times. Love the feature to be able to upload pollution evidence and email my MP when sewage is discharging. Thanks for providing this brilliant free resource.
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Game changer of an app to keep you safe
As a frequent water user, the SSRS app is a total game changer as it allows me to safely get into the sea without worrying about my health being affected. Sad that we need it but positive to have a toolkit to inform ourselves.
Wonderful tool
Love using the app, very user friendly! So good to see real time information in what I’m surfing. Great way to log incidents and email your MP quick and easy.
So helpful!
I regularly swim in the sea in Brighton and this app is invaluable for letting me know when it’s safe or not to swim. I’ve also used it to write to my local mp and water co ceo. It felt great to be able to take some actions and have my voice heard too.
Lifesaver
This app is literally a lifesaver. It’s part of my daily routine, check the surf and then check if it’s safe to paddle out. Excellent piece of kit and so easy to use too. Know before you go 🤙
A must have
Such a well designed and helpful app. I rely on it to keep me, my daughter and my partner safe from sewage. And the fact you can email those responsible, demanding them to change, is incredible. A must for anyone who loves getting in the water
Vital resource to stay safe at the sea
This app is great for me to know when the water companies are discharging sewage where I surf. Especially great that is has information for all nations in the Uk