England · Environment Agency
Leigh Bell Wharf
Safe to swim
High confidence — a recent regulator sample combines with live discharge data for the surrounding area.
Status computed 23 Aug 2026, 05:43 UTC; statuses refresh every 15 minutes.
What we know
- Regulator classification
- Good
- Pollution risk forecast
- Normal
- Active discharges
- None within 5km
- Recent discharges (last 48 hours)
- None within 5km
- Upstream river network
- None reported affecting this spot’s river reaches
- Surrounding overflow coverage
- Within an ingested water company network
- Monitoring season
- Currently in regulator monitoring season
Last sampled 12 August 2026 · 6 weeks ago. Source: Environment Agency.
Forecast expired 23 Aug 2026, 08:29 UTC. Source: Environment Agency.
Discharges traced through the river network by sewage-map.
Water body baseline
The Environment Agency classifies this water body (THAMES LOWER) as Moderate ecological status (2022 classification). That is a Water Framework Directive assessment of long-term ecosystem health — plants, invertebrates, fish, chemistry — not a bacteriological measure of whether the water is safe to swim in today. It is shown as context and plays no part in the verdict above.
The EA’s Catchment Data Explorer page for this water body →
Source: EA Catchment Data Explorer, Open Government Licence v3.0 — data as of 21 Aug 2026, 10:40 UTC.
What this verdict means
Safe to swim is the strongest verdict this map gives: a favourable regulator classification, a recent sample, and no discharge signal arguing against it. It is still a snapshot, not a guarantee — water quality changes faster than monitoring does, especially after heavy rain.
Every verdict here is computed from regulator classifications, sample dates, pollution-risk forecasts, and water-company discharge reports — it is not a water test. Absence of a negative signal is not positive confirmation of safety, and conditions on the day (rainfall, currents, cold) matter as much as water quality. Read how statuses are decided.