South Hams District Council is launching a new real-time water quality monitoring initiative across rivers and estuaries in Devon, using sensors designed by local manufacturer Teledyne Valeport. The scheme, due to go live in late 2025, will provide open access to river health data via a public dashboard, aiming to help communities, researchers and agencies respond more quickly to pollution events.
The project will deploy a suite of instruments including the group’s miniCT conductivity and temperature sensors, pH probes and Hyperion optical sensors, all manufactured at its Totnes facility. Data collected from the devices will be used to identify sudden changes in water chemistry or clarity that could indicate sewage spills, agricultural runoff or other contamination.
South Hams councillor John McKay, executive member for climate change and biodiversity, said the initiative showed how local authorities, businesses and residents could work together. “Local groups have been key to shaping this project – and now we’re giving them, and everyone else, access to real-time water quality data so we can all play a part in protecting our rivers and coastline,” he said.
The move comes at a time of heightened public concern about water quality in England. Official data and citizen science projects have highlighted frequent sewage discharges into rivers, while climate change and rising water demand are adding further stress. Campaigners have long called for more transparent, real-time information on river health to hold polluters to account.
The South Hams initiative is backed by government funding and involves collaboration with the University of Plymouth as well as local river and estuary groups. The dashboard is expected to go live by the end of 2025, offering open access to the data.
Real-time monitoring of river pollution is being explored in other parts of the UK, with recent months seeing the launch of a new initiative in the River Roding (undertaken by Thames21 and the River Roding Trust), and a new monitoring scheme being deployed by Yorkshire Water.
As Dr Tom Dollard of the Good Homes Alliance noted in response to a recent government consultation on water efficiency: “If we are to unlock new housing and economic growth, while protecting the environment, then smarter water monitoring and management will be essential.”