One cold-water swim changed my life. I became seriously ill after swimming in contaminated seawater , the infection spread into my blood and led to major heart surgery. Later, I found out raw sewage had been discharged onto my local beach for 342 hours, with no warning, no accountability and no support.

I’m Suzi, an open-water swimmer and wellbeing coach, and I’ve started this petition to make sure no one else has to go through what I did. Swimming has been my source of healing, health, and connection to my community and to nature, but it should never come at the cost of our health or life.

Sadly, I’m not alone. Thousands of people swim in rivers, lakes, and seas across the UK year-round. Yet:

• Water quality testing mostly happens in summer, leaving huge gaps.
• Results are often delayed by days, with no real-time data to guide safe swimming.
• Winter, when sewage discharges are often at their worst, is when monitoring drops.

This means swimmers, families, anglers, and whole communities are left exposed to untreated sewage and harmful pollutants. These toxins don’t just stay in the water, they affect our wildlife, natural habitats and even the air we breathe.

Groups like Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are already showing how powerful real-time water alerts can be. Their Safer Seas & Rivers Service provides vital warnings, helping people make safer choices.

But protections stop outside the official bathing season, leaving people without support and increased risk for months of the year. By funding and expanding this kind of monitoring nationwide, year-round, we can build on the incredible work already being done and ensure everyone has access to safe water (and air), whatever the season.

We are calling for:

• Year-round, real-time testing for harmful bacteria such as E. coli and streptococci
• Independent oversight, so water companies aren’t marking their own homework
• Costs covered by polluters, not taxpayers and the public.. 

If nothing changes, preventable illnesses will continue, communities will remain at risk, and polluting water companies will avoid accountability….

Clean water isn’t a luxury , it’s a basic human right. Protecting our waters means protecting public health, wildlife, and the legacy we leave for future generations.

The government has the power to act now, but they will only listen if enough of us demand change.

👉 Please sign and share this petition today. Together, we can stop preventable illness, protect our communities, and make clean, safe water a reality for everyone.

🔗 Sign the petition here