England’s sewage crisis: how polluted is your local river and which regions are worst hit?

Rivers in the north of England are bearing the brunt of the sewage pollution crisis, analysis by the Guardian reveals, with the region’s waters experiencing the highest rates of waste discharge in the country.

Storm overflows around the Irwell valley, where the rivers Croal and Irwell run through to Manchester, discharged raw sewage 12,000 times in 2023 — the highest rate of all English rivers when accounting for length, at 95 spills per mile.

It comes as new data reveals that 2023 was the worst year on record for storm water pollution, with overflows spilling raw sewage into England’s rivers and seas for 3.6m hours. You can check your local rivers using the tool below, which shows spills across England’s river basins.