Wild water swimmers benefit from smart water quality data
In the face of mounting pressure to improve water quality transparency, especially around designated bathing sites, Meteor Communications is leading a quiet revolution. As a specialist in remote monitoring technologies, Meteor’s recent deployment, in partnership with the Environment Agency (EA) and funded through the River Severn Partnership’s Advanced Wireless Innovation Region, is a compelling example of engineering and innovation combining to deliver public value.
The project, launched in February 2025 on the River Teme at Linney Riverside Park, Ludlow (UK), is transforming the way we understand and respond to changing river conditions, through real-time, integrated environmental monitoring.
The River Teme rises in mid-Wales flowing through the Shropshire Hills before joining the River Severn south of Worcester. Designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) the river is known for its beauty and abundant wildlife. Popular with wild swimmers, a 200m stretch of the River Teme is a designated bathing water, and as such is regularly tested by the EA, but during 2024 several of the tests showed results significantly above the permissible limits for bacteria.
Closing the data gap
Traditional water quality testing through lab-based spot sampling is unable to deliver timely insights when pollution incidents occur. Results can take days, leaving both the EA and the public blind to changing conditions in the critical moments before or after an incident.
This project was conceived to close that gap. It equips stakeholders with immediate, site-specific data on water quality parameters, enabling proactive communication, better environmental oversight, and informed decision-making for river users.
Recognising the advantages of continuous monitoring, the EA has been developing and operating remote water quality monitors for over 20 years, and a system known as ‘ESNET’ was installed at Ludlow in February 2025 to measure Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature, pH, Turbidity, Conductivity, Chlorophyll and Ammonium at user-selectable intervals. ESNET systems are manufactured in the UK by the EA’s Framework Partner, Meteor Communications, and live data is automatically transferred to the MeteorCloud® platform, which can be securely accessed online. Unlike traditional systems that simply gather data for later retrieval, Meteor’s solutions make information available in real-time, helping both regulators and the public respond to developing issues, rather than yesterday’s problems.
Robust, simple to install and operate, multiparameter ESNET systems were specifically designed for the remote monitoring of rivers and other surface waters. However, they are also used for final effluent monitoring and for monitoring upstream and downstream of storm overflow and wastewater discharge points according to Section 82 of the Environment Act 2021.
Event-based microbial monitoring
Real-time data displayed on Meteor’s visualisation platform via iPad, shown alongside a multiparameter sonde and Fluidion E. coli monitor. The Meteor Data Cloud integrates live water quality measurements from the sonde with superimposed E. coli data from the Fluidion unit, providing a comprehensive overview of conditions in the River Teme
Graphical reports of multiparameter water quality measurements allow experts at the EA to determine the cause of pollution incidents. However, with bacteria counts a particular concern at Ludlow, a continuous bacteria monitor known as ‘Fluidion Alert’ was also installed. The Fluidion Alert is an autonomous microbiological analyser with remote connectivity for quantifying E.coli, Total Coliforms, and Faecal Coliform bacteria. The device is able to deliver microbiological data within 2 – 12 hours, which is substantially faster than would be possible with sampling for laboratory analysis. This unit is configured to trigger the collection of bacteriological data before, during, and after rainfall events.
This event-based approach captures microbial spikes that are commonly linked to runoff, combined sewer overflows, or other storm-driven pollution inputs. The ability to observe E. coli concentrations dynamically – not hours or days later – has been game-changing in assessing when it is safe to enter the water.
What sets this system apart is how Meteor has unified these datasets to produce a single graph. Users can now correlate rainfall events, microbial spikes, and water quality parameter responses on a shared timeline. This superimposed data view is invaluable in revealing how pollution loads affect river health over both short- and long-term cycles.
Smarter insights through AI: turning data into decisions
Meteor Communications recently introduced AI-driven tools to enhance the ways in which environmental data is analysed and actioned. These advanced capabilities enable rapid pattern recognition and categorisation across large data volumes, which streamlines the identification of emerging issues.
To simplify data interpretation when monitoring multiple sites, the tool employs a traffic light classification system which assigns red, amber, or green status indicators to each location – based on site-specific thresholds and historic trends. This visual clarity allows environmental professionals to scan the health of entire river networks at a glance.
Additionally, smart alerts are triggered automatically when water quality parameters deviate from predefined norms, delivering notifications in real-time when interventions are necessary. This minimises response delays, improves incident management, and helps protect both ecological and public health.
Summarising the advantages of this solution, Meteor’s Rebecca Hartless says: “ESNET based systems do not just collect, move and store data, they translate it into actionable intelligence. With a custom graph, API integration, and configurable alert systems, users gain a complete contextual view of site conditions, so that they are able to derive actionable, data-driven insights.”
Example of real-time water quality data collected over a one-month period, with superimposed E. coli measurements. The dataset illustrates a distinct rainfall event and the corresponding bacterial response, highlighting both the rapid increase and subsequent recovery of E. coli concentrations in the River Teme at Ludlow.
The Ludlow installation combines high-reliability telemetry, autonomous data acquisition, Cloud-based visualisation/analysis with the seamless integration of diverse sensor types. These elements allow for rapid scaling across catchments and river networks. Crucially, they also enable non-specialist users, such as local authorities or NGOs, to access and interpret high-quality environmental data with ease.
Extending Impact: App Integration and Public Access
The project has sparked considerable public and media interest, resulting in an extension of the trial with similar monitoring at two additional sites. The real-time data is not only being shared with the EA, it is also being fed into a mobile app that allows river users to check live water quality conditions before deciding to swim. This public-facing innovation brings science and community safety together in a way that’s rarely seen in traditional environmental monitoring.
Looking forward, Rebecca Hartless says: “As water quality challenges continue to dominate public discourse, from storm overflows to bathing water designations, real-time monitoring is becoming increasingly important. However, key to the success of these installations is the ability to seamlessly combine data from multiple sources to deliver timely, accurate, reliable and actionable insights.”
