Team Wilder Story Conham Bathing

Conham River Park and Eastwood Farm Nature Reserve is an area on the river Avon in Bristol, BS4, where people and wildlife enjoy the beauty and benefits of the river. Families, groups of friends of all ages, individuals and community groups all visit the area. Here people walk, picnic, run and notice nature around the river and nearby tree’s, ponds, wildflower and grassy area’s. It is beautiful and away from the nearby busy residential areas and roads. The area is a popular and well-known spot for wild swimming, paddling, kayaking, rowing and joining a river cruise or river taxi on the water. 

Conham Bathing was founded in 2021 as a campaign group composed of swimmers and local residents who all wanted to address the pollution in their local river and gain Designated Bathing Water Status. When an area has this status, then more regular and official water testing takes place. 

“Our experienced and passionate small female-led campaign group is working to secure a better future for rivers in Bristol, improve access to nature and campaign for the rights of rivers. Our dedicated team give up their free time to fight the good fight and turn the tide on sewage pollution.” Conham Bathing. Founding members: Becca Blease, Aggie Nyagari, Emma Nicol, Charlotte Sawyer and Eva Perrin.

Conham River Park is a popular area for wild swimming and river recreation. Due to the popularity of the wild swimming scene in the area – clean water is essential. People have been ill after swimming in the water and pollution is noticeable, especially after high rainfall and flooding. This must have a direct effect on nearby wildlife now and especially in the future. 

Something needed to happen and change to save the river and all of the life and joy it brings to the area and all who visit.  

Reliable data is needed to show pollution and sewage levels in the river. The water can look clean and inviting, but if there are unsafe levels of e-coli, then you do not want yourself, your children, loved ones or friends to swallow or be exposed to this pollution that is preventable. The scale of the problem and pollution levels is not always visible. Not to mention the effect to the river ecology. 

“I felt powerless about pollution” Becca Blease shared her feelings before forming Conham Bathing and knowing how to take action to do something to help her local river and ease eco-anxiety and guilt for the state of the rivers caused by humans polluting the River Avon and other rivers in the UK and for taking the river for granted in her early years. It can be overwhelming how much damage has been made to rivers. 

...This motivated Becca to improve her relationship with the river and take action. With a problem so big, where and how do you start???

Designated Bathing Water Status is not easily granted as there is a risk and expectation about water quality. If an area has this status, it is officially recognised as a wild swimming area, meaning that comprehensive and regular water quality testing is carried out on a regular basis. Signs will display the water quality results, giving people essential information to make an informed decision about bathing or paddling in the water. 

To gain this status, local organisations will need to form a steering group comprised of local community groups (social, swimming, special interest, recreational etc), individuals, the council, local parish councils, the Environmental Agency, Natural England, water company (e.g. Wessex Water), wildlife organisations, local MP representation, Chamber of Commerce and National farmers union representatives. This way evidence and actions are united and shared to achieve the common goal. 

Conham Bathing group have applied for bathing water status, but the application has not been granted. This motived the group to do the water testing themselves….

Weekly water testing is carried out by the group and sent to Wessex Water for testing. The results are shared on their website and social media for people to check before bathing or entering the water. Weekly testing is not ideal due to rapid changes to the water level and pollution levels. 

Historic data about CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow) is also shown publicly. The sobering data shows that in 2022, 1^st May to the end of the year for 36,093 minutes (approximately 25 days continuously) sewage was spilled into the river across 4 locations along the River Avon – Saltford, Keynsham x 2 locations and Hanham. 23,462 minutes were recorded in November 2022.

Yearly River Avon sewage recording: In 2021, Wessex Water discharged raw sewage directly into the river Avon 23,524 times for a total duration of 151,258 hours. Ref: inews

Nationally, 4.7 million hours of sewage was spilled into our waterways in 2024. Ref: Surfers Against Sewage water quality report 2025

Wessex Water no longer sends alerts for real-time CSO alerts. Sewage information can be accessed via:Wessex Water coast and rivers watch map

“Our monitors typically track the level of flow entering our sewer network. When a sewer reaches max capacity, the monitor will trigger an alert, meaning the overflow is operating. They monitor when a discharge starts and finishes. They do not measure the volume of the discharge. The map also shows the type of discharge, including whether it is mainly groundwater or has been partially treated.” Wessex Water

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) now test the water the water quality, available to everyone.Water quality testing - Surfers Against Sewage

It is very easy to let the negative news, recordings, data and stories create a negative headspace and feel helpless towards making a difference to change this. Groups like Conham Bathing bring people together to change this narrative into positivity and drive action to make people and organisations accountable, raise awareness of issue but also focus on the things that can be done.

Becca has taken part in citizen science for years and has also taken a masters in Public Policy, with a focused interest in the Rights for Nature movement.

Anyone can take part in citizen science! Conham Bathing recently did a call asking for help with water testing and they have 50 new volunteers! A passion for the river is the best quality needed. Weekly testing will now restart in the area, including winter testing. 

Conham Bathing are looking for support via signature and agreement to their charter. This is based on RESPECT and RECIPROCITY for the river. They are calling for people within the catchment to be guardians of the river. 

Reciprocity looks at the relationship of the river with us humans, tree’s, birds, fish, mammals, insects and construction/engineering/rocks.

Conham Bathing charter rights of the river

• Citizen science! Take action yourself and provide real data, to inform swimmers/visitors and provide hard evidence that action must be taken to prevent further damage to the river ecosystem.
• Rights of the river.
• Petitions! For councilors and water companies to change their policies, Conham Bathing group gained unanimous support from all political parties to take action against river pollution.
• The press tend to share news when sewage is high. Once in Conham e-coli was 20 times higher than safe measurement levels. This was during a storm overflow.
• Marry the river! Gained local and national coverage on breakfast TV and media. Gets people’s attention to give message and gain more support.
• Hold a pilgrimage! We Are Avon.
• Mermaid – swam the Bristol channel and engages with local schools to spread the message in a creative and memorable way.
• Hold events – bring people together through engagement and connection to the river. Power in numbers.
• Puppets!
• Film creation: Rave on for the Avon by Charlotte Sawer (founder). This film showcases citizen science in action, personal stories of how the river has helped mental health issues, interactions with the council and the sheer beauty and importance of the river.