Shrewsbury wild swimmers ‘really feel safer’ due to water high quality app

Wild swimmers have stated they “feel safer” due to the launch of an app that allows them to check water quality in real-time.

High-tech sensors have been put in within the River Severn in Shrewsbury, with the information accessible to the general public totally free on the Shropshire Wild Bathing app.

It comes after a profitable pilot of the expertise on the River Teme in Ludlow, with the app exhibiting customers info like ranges of ammonium and the way cloudy the water is.

Dee Hancock, who’s a eager wild swimmer, stated: “It’s still our decision, but the app is guiding us as to whether the water quality is a risk to our health or not”.

The sensors monitoring the designated bathing website close to Frankwell go on the information to the app – which means Ms Hancock could make an knowledgeable determination on whether or not the water is clear sufficient earlier than she will get in.

“We all use it, and if it’s showing up [as poor quality] we don’t go in, and if it’s OK, we go in – and that’s the decision made,” she stated.

She stated the app was serving to individuals check out wild swimming, including that she “can feel quite confident in encouraging some of my friends to come down and say ‘look, it is clean.'”

Tom Coekin is a water high quality specialist for the Environment Agency, and stated the expertise means the water high quality readings on the app are very up-to-date.

Mr Coekin stated the system used cartridges that pump the river water into them to test the focus of micro organism.

“It takes a reading every day and then about once a week someone will come along and recharge them,” he stated, including that “all that information uses telemetry to come through to the application itself and online so that members of public can read it.”

The app has a easy structure, exhibiting customers the degrees of ammonium and turbidity.

The ammonium graph measures the quantity of “pee and poo”, within the water, Mr Coekin stated, with a purple line exhibiting “the level of ammonium you are allowed to have coming out of your tap”.

The turbidity graph reveals how cloudy the water is. Mr Coekin stated that “if you have pollution coming through the river, you might see a particularly cloudy cloud coming through that water, which you want to avoid and not swim in.”

The app additionally reveals customers the temperature of the water.

The app – which is known as Shropshire Wild Bathing and is free to obtain – was developed by the River Severn Partnership, a bunch that features Shropshire Council and the Environment Agency.

Martin Quine, from the Agency, stated it was an enormous step ahead for individuals who repeatedly use the Severn.

“What they love about this area is the connection to the community,” he stated.

“What you get in in Shrewsbury is a different type of bathing water opportunity that perhaps you don’t get elsewhere,” Mr Quine added.

An identical system is set up on the River Teme in Ludlow – utilizing the identical app.

Matt Smith, who’s the programme supervisor for the partnership’s Advanced Wireless Innovation Region, stated its success might see a wider roll-out.

“Within the River Severn catchment we’ve only got three designated wild swimming spots, and all three are in Shropshire,” he stated.

Mr Smith added that the scheme was “innovative” as a result of “it’s not happening anywhere else,” and stated there was a plan to put in the identical system in Ironbridge in 2026.