We’re coming together to learn more about water quality, and to share information and take action to protect our local rivers and brooks.
Our Goals:
Push for policy change: Demand stronger national environmental laws and water quality standards.
Hold water companies accountable: Lobby Severn Trent Water to fix issues in Tideswell Brook and surrounding streams.
Monitor local waters: Run community testing to track water quality ourselves and gather real evidence.
Inspire change: Encourage habits so that we all protect our shared water resources.
Do you care about our local rivers? Get involved and join the Rivers & Brooks Group on our Join Us web page .
Our Concerns
Our Derbyshire dales were created by rivers and streams eroding the limestone landscape over millennia. These waterways are places of wildness and natural beauty – tranquil, green havens for us all to enjoy. With much industrial heritage from our past uses of the water, the dales are now loved by local people and visitors alike, for their wildlife, and for angling and walking. Yet all is not well in what should be the most protected waters in a national park.
Recent media reports have highlighted two main problems with water quality in Tideswell Brook, but also other local rivers and streams. Small, upland brooks join the River Wye, and then flow onwards to the River Derwent, the Trent and into the North Sea. All our waterways are connected.
Our two main concerns locally are:
- The local Tideswell Sewage Treatment Works discharged untreated sewage into Tideswell Brook 68 times, for nearly 800 hours, in 2025 (evidence from the Rivers Trust). These are the known, permitted discharges – supposedly due to extreme weather events. Clearly our sewage treatment works cannot cope with the level of waste water produced on a regular basis.
- Tideswell Brook also had the second highest level of pharmaceutical pollution in a study of UK rivers undertaken by York University recently. This included common medicines, including antibiotics, diabetes drugs, and antidepressants (read more details about this study here). There is significant concern about the impact of these drugs on human health and wildlife.
There are many issues which may be affecting our local brook, including inadequate and outdated sewage treatment infrastructure, inappropriate disposal of pharmaceuticals, and pollution from unknown sources. It is very difficult to pinpoint just one problem. You can read more about the issues affecting our local brooks and rivers here.
But who is responsible for the water quality in our local rivers and brooks? And what can we do to help address these problems?
TDEG public meeting on water quality
On 9 October 2024, TDEG hosted a general meeting to discuss the issues affecting water quality in Tideswell Brook and elsewhere. We had contributions from the Environment Agency, the Rivers Trust, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, and the Campaign for National Parks.
You can read a summary of the meeting and the full presentations here.
As a result of discussions at that meeting, a group of concerned residents agreed to form a Rivers and Brooks Group to focus on action on this issue.
Lobbying Severn Trent Water
We are making progress over the issue of stormwater and sewage overflows into Tideswell Brook. After attending a Severn Trent Water (STW) community roadshow at Carsington, we have established good contacts with their local team. Several TDEG members met with STW officers at the Tideswell Sewage Treatment Works in October 2025. We were able to share our concerns and discuss possible options for resolving the issue of stormwater and sewage overflowing into the brook during heavy rain.
STW engineers are currently considering options, and we hope they will be able to report back soon. In February 2026, STW officers attended an open meeting in Tideswell to share their work and plans for our treatment works. You can read more about that meeting here.
So there is a glimmer of hope. But is it enough? What more can we do?
Take Action – Make Your Voice Heard
There steps we can all take to to help relieve pressure on our local sewage works, as well as highlighting the agencies who we need to lobby to encourage real action to address these issues. Read more about How you can protect our rivers & brooks – Tideswell & District Environment Group on our web site.
If you would like to take action by lobbying political representatives alongside other campaigning groups to make your voice heard, then take a look at our Take Action page for the latest issues and concerns.
Learn More
The Rivers & Brooks Group are collecting and sharing information about government policies and regulations concerning water management, and the current issues affecting water quality. We also intend to share Severn Trent Water’s targets and monitor their implementation. You can read more on our Sharing Information page for the latest concerns and updates.
Join Us
If you would like to join this new Rivers and Brooks Group, and receive updates and notice of meetings by email, please join us via the TDEG Join Us page .
Together we can make a difference!
How you can protect our rivers & brooks
We are lobbying the government for stricter regulations to reduce pollution and to ensure water companies improve water quality. While we push for national change,
Severn Trent Water come to Tideswell
Nisha Aslam, STW, talks to local residents TDEG Whole Group Meeting – Severn Trent Water’s plans for Tideswell Wastewater Treatment Works 18 February 2026, at
Water Quality Action? Is it Enough?
Since we first learnt about the serious pollution of Tideswell Brook by sewage overflows and by pharmaceutical pollution in the summer 2024, we have discovered
Sharing Information
TDEG’s Rivers & Brooks Group is working to learn more about the issues which affect our local water quality. Our members are researching the problems
Consultation on the new Water (Special Measures) Act
We are asking all our members to get involved in this important consultation about the implementation of the new Water (Special Measures) Act. The Act
Take Action – Make Your Voice Heard!
TDEG’s Rivers & Brooks group is working to protect our local waterways and reduce pollution. As a small group, our voice is strongest when we
