Despite rising public awareness and environmental concern, sewage spills continue to plague the River Dart. Data from 2023 paints a grim picture—and the figures for 2024 show no sign of real improvement.

At Friends of the Dart, our mission has always been about protecting the river we love—and that work is always stronger when it’s done together. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our involvement in a powerful new partnership aimed at tackling pollution in the Dart and its tributaries.

We were invited to present our work at the South Hams District Council Overview & Scrutiny Committee  Meeting on Thursday, 27th April 2025. Two of our Directors, Nicky Rajska and Hannah Pearson, presented findings from testing and proposed improvements for communication and transparency.

This February, we were delighted to hold our first online meeting to share our testing results with the community, press, and other interested parties. The meeting took place on February 13th and was attended by 49 participants. We’d like to thank everyone who joined us—you helped make this first meeting a great success! We look forward to our next Water Hub on June 12th at 6pm.

Freedom of Information Request: What the Data Reveals About Pollution in the River Dart

After many months of promises and delays, Friends of the Dart has finally obtained crucial water quality data through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The data includes over 300 bacterial samples from the River Dart (2015–2024), more than 50 DNA samples identifying bacterial sources, and over 50 bacterial samples from the River Hems in 2024.

High bacterial counts at Dartington Beach and Dartington Pontoon did not correlate with CSO spill data or rainfall. This suggested there was a continuous pollution load being added to the Dart. Current monitoring indicated that treated effluent from Kilbury sewage treatment works (stw) was the source.