Open water swimmers in Shropshire, England, can dive into wild waters with a little more confidence following the introduction of a high-tech app that displays water quality.
The new Shropshire Wild Bathing app seeks to address the ongoing issue of swimmer safety in Britain's waterways using underwater sensors that measure daily pollution levels and provide up-to-date readings.
The sensors have been installed in popular Shropshire sections of the River Severn, which runs through Wales and West England.
Officials hope that the app can increase awareness of the issues surrounding British waters and improve knowledge of when it's safe to swim in them.
Environment Agency water specialist Tom Coekin explained how the complex sensors work. He told the BBC: "It takes a reading every day, and then about once a week someone will come along and recharge them."
"All that information uses telemetry to come through to the application itself and online so that members of the public can read it."
Water pollution in the UK
Water pollution has become a hot-button issue in the UK. High levels of harmful bacteria and chemicals in British and Northern Irish rivers, lakes, and seas have forced open water swimmers and other water-based athletes to reconsider their activities and think twice before taking a dip.
Waterways are heavily polluted by the excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers, and the billions of gallons of untreated sewage released by water management companies each year.
The crisis has been especially hard on open water swimmers and other water-based athletes like rowers.
Last year, several rowers in the historic Oxford-Cambridge boat race fell ill after high levels of E. coli were detected in the River Thames. At least 35 competitors also experienced sickness after swimming in the Berkshire stretch of the river as part of the Royal Windsor Triathlon in June.
The organization behind the historic Henley Swim open water race has been forced to close its doors following a huge drop in participation as fears about pollution continue to spread.
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