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We are a group of middle-aged women who met through our love of the river & open water swimming.
Initially a WhatsApp group to organise swims, we quickly took on swimming challenges starting with our successful English Channel relay in 2020. Over the past several years we have raised more than £100,000 for charity and swum over one million metres! As our love of the river grew, so did our awareness and horror at the scandal of sewage pollution. We began campaigning in 2019, one of the forerunners in the fight for clean waterways, horrified by the assault the water companies were, and still are waging on our precious rivers, lakes & seas.

We've been catapulted into the National campaigning arena, working with other NGO's, community groups, celebrities and charities such as Windrush Wasp, Save Windemere, We Own It, Ilkley Clean River & River Action UK. All working for one goal, clean, healthy waterways full of life for all to use.
We believe education & collaboration are key to change. Entirely independent, we can challenge the government, regulators and industry freely.

"Giving our river a voice"

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Mermaids in the Media

Ecoli Testing

Water quality testing in Henley!

We are regularly asked what the water quality is like in Henley. We believe that everyone has the right to use the river, as long as they respect, care for it and leave it cleaner than when they arrived. It is the job of campaigners like us to educate with the facts. So here they are in black and white.

Our champion citizen scientists in Henley are Dave Wallace and Chris Szweda (Henley & Marlow River Action) who test the river regularly with a Fluidion device, the same as the one used in the Paris Olympics. Please click on the link to see the results for yourself.

Results

The tests show "colony forming units" or CFU per 100ml a measure of the amount of bacteria.

For the River Thames, an inland waterway, the DEFRA classifications are:

E.coli

500 or below is excellent

900 is satisfactory

Above 900 is poor.

Henley & Marlow River Action tests the water for various indicators and pathogens, including nitrates, phosphates, turbidity (water clarity), temperature, pH, ammonia, oxygen and e.coli. All tests are conducted in good faith, but none of the Henley River Action Group, its volunteers or any organisations with whom we work can be held liable for any errors in conducting or processing tests, or any delays in obtaining results and posting those results on this website.

Intestinal enterococci:

200 or below is excellent

up to 400 is good.

Above 400 is regarded as poor.

Filming with Steve Backshall

Mermaids join forces with grass roots campaigners to form

The Sewage Campaign Network

Henley Mermaids, Ilkley Clean River Group, Save Windermere, SOS Whitstable, and Windrush Against Sewage Pollution are a network of leading grassroots campaigners steeped in our local communities, trying to save our rivers, lakes and seas from sewage pollution; and the founders of the current massive public storm. Our coalition consists of the forerunners in the campaign to stop sewage pollution, passionate community members committed to safeguarding rivers, lakes, and coastlines from pollution.

We have not been captured, we don't take money from government, regulators or the water companies; we are truly independent. We take pride in our integrity.

We have found that in order to save our local waters, we have had to step up and challenge the whole water system, campaigning to get the law enforced. We are also mobilising hundreds of community campaign groups like ours, providing briefings, educational sessions, supporting the practicalities of water testing, campaigning and lobbying.

Each group within the network operates independently, but we speak as one, channelling the public's outrage at pollution for profit.