With no alert system in place for bacteria pollution, wild swimmers are frequently falling ill from diving into contaminated waters.
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Top UK wild swimming spots awash with dangerous levels of toxic bacteria
🏊 Some of the UK’s most popular spots for wild swimming are often awash with dangerous levels of bacteria from sewage spills, data reveals. Among the toxic bacteria found are e.coli and intestinal enterococci which can make people violently ill or, in the extreme cases, kill them. At Conham River Park on the River Avon, for example, e.coli levels have been recorded at up to 20 times the safe limit.
Where have there been spikes in pollution?
17 stretches of river in the UK could be awarded bathing water status under community plans to fight back against sewage pollution.
Swimmers reveal the dangers of bathing in polluted waters
Oxford-based chiropractor Neville Dowley was seriously ill in November 2021 after taking a dip in the Thames.
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