England · Environment Agency
Porthtowan
Avoid swimming
Currently downstream of an active sewage discharge on the river network — South West Water (via sewage-map).
High confidence — an active discharge is being reported right now — the event itself is fresh evidence.
Status computed 27 Aug 2026, 02:13 UTC; statuses refresh every 15 minutes.
What we know
- Regulator classification
- Excellent
- Pollution risk forecast
- Normal
- Active discharges
- None within 5km
- Recent discharges (last 48 hours)
- None within 5km
- Upstream river network
- Downstream of an active South West Water discharge right now
- Surrounding overflow coverage
- Within an ingested water company network
- Monitoring season
- Currently in regulator monitoring season
Last sampled 13 August 2026 · 6 weeks ago. Source: Environment Agency.
Forecast expired 27 Aug 2026, 08:29 UTC. Source: Environment Agency.
Sewage-map data as of 27 Aug 2026, 02:00 UTC — discharges traced through the river network.
Water body baseline
The Environment Agency classifies this water body (Lands End to Trevose Head) as Good 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
Avoid swimming is driven by the strongest negative signals this map tracks: an active sewage discharge affecting this water, or a regulator classification of Poor or a closure. After a discharge ends, waiting at least 48 hours before swimming is the standard advice.
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.