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Water quality data is more accessible to the public than ever before. But having more data does not always make it easier to understand what is happening in our local waters.

At our Waterwatch Southend Community Water Quality Summit, residents and organisations raised concerns about the different information they see across water quality monitoring and reporting platforms.

People can check water company reporting, the Surfers Against Sewage Safer Seas and Rivers Service, BeachAware information and other sources. But these platforms can use different data, monitoring methods, reporting periods and ways of presenting information.

For someone simply trying to answer the question, “Is the water safe today?”, that can be confusing.

From discussion to action

One of the actions agreed at our Southend Summit was to bring the relevant organisations together to look at this issue in more detail.

Waterwatch UK is therefore establishing a new Water Quality Data Working Group, with its first meeting taking place on Wednesday 26 August at Leigh Marina Pop Up Space.

The aim is not to create another monitoring platform.

Instead, we want to better understand what sits behind the information already available and identify practical ways to make water quality data clearer and more useful to the public.

The group will explore:

• How different monitoring and reporting systems work and what each source of information actually tells the public.

• Why information can sometimes appear inconsistent across different platforms.

• Where there may be gaps in monitoring, reporting or public understanding.

• How water quality information could be communicated more clearly.

• Opportunities for organisations to collaborate and share information more effectively.

• Recommendations that can be taken forward through future Waterwatch Summits and Community Water Partnerships.

Bringing different perspectives together

Understanding these issues requires more than one organisation or one source of data.

We are bringing together representatives from community organisations, public bodies, regulators, local authorities, MPs’ offices and water companies.

It is important that residents and community voices are part of that conversation too.

Waterwatch was established to create spaces where communities and the organisations responsible for our water environment can work through complex issues together.

The Water Quality Data Working Group is a practical next step from the conversations we have already started in Southend.

Our first meeting will begin by mapping the different sources of water quality information available locally, understanding how they work and identifying the areas where greater clarity would make the biggest difference to the public.

We will then agree where the group can add the most value and what practical actions should follow.

Get involved

The first Water Quality Data Working Group meeting will take place on Wednesday 26 August 2026 at Leigh Marina Pop Up Space.

Further details about the exact meeting hub will be confirmed nearer the time.

If you work with water quality data, represent a relevant organisation or have an interest in how water quality information is communicated to our communities, we would welcome your involvement.

Register to attend the first Water Quality Data Working Group meeting:
https://waterwatchuk.org/civicrm/event/register/?reset=1&id=9