In May 2024 the Dart made a little history. When the government announced 27 new designated bathing waters across England, the River Dart was on the list1, and four stretches now carry official bathing water status: Steamer Quay at Totnes, Stoke Gabriel, Dittisham, and Warfleet Creek near Dartmouth2. They were among the first non-coastal bathing waters ever designated in Devon3. Designation legally requires the Environment Agency to test through the bathing season for E. coli and intestinal enterococci, the two bacteria that indicate faecal pollution, and to publish an annual classification from Excellent down to Poor77.
The first results are a mixed picture. In the 2025 classifications, Warfleet Creek kept its Excellent rating and Dittisham improved from Good to Excellent, but Steamer Quay remained Poor and Stoke Gabriel fell from Sufficient to Poor45. Of the three bathing waters rated Poor across the whole South West, two are on the Dart4.
There are 44 sites on the Dart where South West Water holds a permit to release storm sewage into the river8, and the company's own data for Steamer Quay shows sixteen storm overflows affecting that one bathing water, with the Totnes sewage treatment works overflow alone spilling 177 times in 20247. But a surprising amount of the pressure starts at home: in kitchens, bathrooms, driveways, septic tanks and on dog walks across the catchment. That is what this site is about. Every action here is something you can do at home, and every one of them, multiplied across thousands of Dart households, shows up in the water.
