# Safer Seas & Rivers Service — user reviews > 64 indexed App Store user reviews of Safer Seas & Rivers Service by Surfers Against Sewage Ltd., rated 3.50/5 from 2 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/safer-seas-and-rivers-service/id1458786821/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/safer-seas-and-rivers-service/id1458786821.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1 · 4★ 0 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 1 · 1★ 0 ## Newest reviews (17 of 64) ### 5/5 — Best real time app *2025-08-05, version 5.2.10* 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! ### 5/5 — A must have app! *2025-08-05, version 5.2.10* 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. ### 5/5 — Game changer of an app to keep you safe *2025-08-05, version 5.2.10* 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. ### 5/5 — Wonderful tool *2025-08-05, version 5.2.10* 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. ### 5/5 — So helpful! *2025-08-05, version 5.2.10* 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. ### 5/5 — Lifesaver *2025-08-05, version 5.2.10* 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 🤙 ### 5/5 — A must have *2025-08-05, version 5.2.10* 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 ### 5/5 — Vital resource to stay safe at the sea *2025-08-05, version 5.2.10* 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 ### 5/5 — Invaluable *2025-08-05* This app has been a game changer for real time information about water quality. It’s great to have notifications sent straight to my phone warning of issues and ability to get directly in touch with my MP when there’s a sewage discharge at my local beach! ### 5/5 — Great app! *2025-08-05* This app is an absolute life-saver. I check it every time I want to go for a swim to know the water will be safe to get into. I never go to the beach without checking it first, because it also has some super handy info on tide times and surf conditions. I especially love the fact that I can add all my local beaches to the watchlist and I can get alerts as soon as a sewage spill happens. Highly recommend!! 👍 ### 5/5 — Invaluable! *2025-08-05* Honestly, what would we do without this app! We check this EVERY time we go into the sea; surfing, swimming - for everything we do at the sea. Being able to submit any sickness has also been really useful - sadly. Everyone who ever goes in the sea needs this app, for up to date sewage alerts. ### 5/5 — Game changer! *2025-08-05* If you enjoying getting in the water, this app is a must have! It’s easy to check water quality at your local swim spot, you can bookmark your most used locations and it’s just all round so helpful! Trustworthy, helpful and simple to use! ### 5/5 — Langland swimming *2025-07-16, version 5.2.10* Disappointed to see the Red Cross against Langland today. Such a shame to see such a lovely beach being abused by the water authorities. ### 5/5 — Valuable tool - thank you! *2025-06-22* We use this to check when visiting the beach, especially with the kids, to keep us healthy and safe. We live near the sea and have multiple beaches that we go to regularly, where there are sewage spills sometimes. I have used the app to send an email to my MP and water company on a couple of occasions as well. Thank you! ### 5/5 — Invaluable *2025-05-21, version 5.2.9* Very important info app to tell you if it’s safe to swim. Everyone should have it if swimming or in contact with rivers and seas for human health, the health of your dogs and for wildlife. A brilliant app. ### 5/5 — Excellent app. *2025-04-23, version 5.2.8* App to keep you safe. ### 5/5 — New update *2025-01-24, version 5.2.5* The new update has made a great app useless. The map has now been removed. You tap anything in the app it doesn’t work. Please sort it out. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Inconsistent indications *2025-02-24, version 5.2.6* Four sewage alerts from Shore Rd Poole in the last 12 hours and overview map shows a green tick and no alerts? What’s happened? ### 1/5 — Won’t register on app *2024-08-25, version 5.2.0* App won’t allow me to register to become an active member ### 2/5 — Polly *2026-04-27, version 5.4.1* 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 ### 2/5 — Up to date testing? *2024-02-07, version 5.0.8* How often are the seas and rivers updated. In Lancashire you currently say there’s been a pollution leak on the 29th of Jan ‘24, it’s now 7th of February and it’s still saying the same thing. Your own terms and conditions state readings might not be up to date. Can you please confirm because as someone who uses the beaches daily for work I need to know if it’s clean or not? Thanks ### 2/5 — Fed up with this!!!! *2023-03-18* The amount of times I’ve tried to either, access this app (never getting past the first page), agree to notifications then I don’t get past this either, no matter how many times I press the “try again” button, keep getting told “slow network blah blah blah …..” I’ve used this app very often in the past as it’s handy for the beaches near me where I swim/dip. I’ve no idea what is wrong here but it’s a pain in the backside!!! **Developer response:** Hey, Thank you for taking the time to use the app and leave this review. We have recently put out a new update which we hope you have had the chance to download and use. If not, please do go ahead and download the new update, and let us know what you think of it. Kind regards, Surfers Against Sewage ### 3/5 — River water quality *2026-03-08, version 5.4.0* 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 ? ### 3/5 — Much needed App *2020-06-04* Great little app to find out water conditions in your area. However, when l tried to share my beach conditions via share beach status on FB all it did was show a link to the web page and not my beach. So pointless. Please fix and keep up the excellent work. Also there’s no time or date, so l dont know how old notifications are. **Developer response:** Hey, Thanks for leaving a review. We have recently pushed a new update with a new sharing feature for alerts. If you haven't already, please do download the latest update and let us know how you find it. Kind regards, Surfers Against Sewage ### 4/5 — It’s really good *2024-05-21, version 5.1.0* I think in my opinion, where they got the overview they have human affected after swimming and evidence of pollution. They should include dogs as well. Also, I think (this is very picky) they should do the rivers as well as it connects to the beach as well ### 4/5 — Essential if you use the water *2022-10-07* Safer seas is an essential app and the only reliable way of finding out if sewage has been discharged before you get in the sea. In most cases there is no other way of knowing, so it could literally be a lifesaving app. The only reason I don’t give it five stars is that sometimes the alert history does not correctly load, so you can’t always see recent data. The alert notification and status of the beach always work and I am sure the minor bug will be fixed soon. Thank you for this amazing service. ### 4/5 — Helpful but scary *2021-09-30* It’s good I now use to orchestrate my surfing sessions but it’s strange I feel if I wanted to surf say in Penzance and it had a green tick for safe I’m scared I’d be paddling in poo all the time. Small complaint I know and nothing to do with the safer seas service so I will be using it in the future also what’s good is it reports sewage overfill aswell as general water quality essentially ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Much needed information *2026-06-06, version 5.5.1* Excellent information, much needed in this current climate of water companies and their bad behaviour! ### 5/5 — Tells you what you need to know *2026-06-02, version 5.5.1* Always informative, clear and useful. Just a shame there’s need to check water quality so often before swimming. ### 5/5 — Such an important app *2026-05-23, version 5.5.0* This is such an important app for anyone who swims in the sea or wild swims. Thanks so much for creating it! ### 5/5 — Lord Alfred *2026-05-23, version 5.5.0* Very clear and informative App Great to have the insight and knowledge provided ### 5/5 — Check before you swim! *2026-05-15, version 5.5.0* 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 ### 5/5 — Excellent Resource! *2026-04-23, version 5.4.1* This app takes the place of multiple websites. So useful if you go in/on the water! Thanks so much. ### 5/5 — Prosecute the perpetrators - AI guidance *2026-03-10, version 5.4.0* 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. ### 5/5 — Necessary *2026-02-19, version 5.4.0* As a cold water swimmer this information is vital for safe swimming as well as for surfers. ### 5/5 — So useful *2025-08-08, version 5.2.10* Thanks SAS! Super useful for me and my family getting in the water safely ### 5/5 — Highly recommend- thanks SAS! *2025-08-05* 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. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-09.*