UK Water Quality API — Sewage & Water Score
Sewage in UK waterways is one of the biggest environmental and political stories of the decade. Water companies have faced record fines and public outrage over storm overflow discharges, driving new legislation and investor scrutiny. But the data is fragmented across the Environment Agency's bathing water profiles, storm overflow (EDM) monitoring, Water Framework Directive classifications, and Ofwat's company performance ratings — four separate datasets with different formats and update cycles. The Water Quality endpoint unifies them into a single postcode-level assessment with a proprietary Water Quality Score that no individual source provides.
What You Get
- •Water Quality Score (0-100): proprietary composite rating across all water quality factors with per-factor breakdown
- •Storm overflows: discharge points within 5km, total spill count and hours, nearest overflow with water company and receiving waterbody
- •Waterbody status: nearest WFD-classified waterbody with ecological classification
- •Bathing water: nearby bathing water sites with annual compliance classification (Excellent/Good/Sufficient/Poor)
- •Water company: responsible water company with Ofwat performance rating
- •Location context: postcode coordinates and local authority
Data Sources
Environment Agency Water Quality
Water Framework Directive classifications for rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. Ecological and chemical status assessments updated annually. The authoritative source for waterbody health in England.
Environment Agency Storm Overflows (EDM)
Event Duration Monitoring data showing every sewage storm overflow discharge event — frequency, duration, and receiving waterbody. Published annually by water companies under regulatory obligation.
Environment Agency Bathing Water
Annual bathing water quality classifications based on sampling during the May-September bathing season. Classifications range from Excellent to Poor under the Bathing Water Directive.
Ofwat
The Water Services Regulation Authority's performance assessments of England and Wales water companies. Ratings reflect leakage performance, supply interruptions, pollution incidents, and customer service.
Scoring Algorithm
Water Quality Score
Weighted composite: storm overflow frequency (30%), bathing water classification (20%), ecological waterbody status (20%), water company Ofwat performance (15%), chemical status (15%). Higher scores indicate better water quality. Includes per-factor breakdown and plain-English recommendation.
Use Cases
Property Due Diligence — Waterway Risk
Property buyers in coastal or riparian areas need to know whether nearby waterways are affected by sewage discharges. The Water Quality Score quantifies the risk that a Landmark or conveyancing search won't capture — the operational reality of what water companies are actually discharging, not just the flood zone classification.
Environmental Litigation
Environmental lawyers building cases against water companies need discharge data, ecological assessments, and Ofwat performance ratings in structured, citable form. The endpoint aggregates the evidence base that currently requires navigating four separate government portals.
ESG & Utility Analysis
ESG analysts assessing utility stocks (Severn Trent, United Utilities, Thames Water) need location-level environmental performance data. The Water Quality Score maps directly to the 'E' in ESG — and the storm overflow data is the metric that regulators, investors, and the public are watching most closely.
Recreational Water Safety
Surfers, swimmers, and wild swimming communities need to know whether nearby bathing waters meet quality standards and whether upstream sewage overflows are active. The endpoint provides the data that apps like Surfers Against Sewage rely on, in API form.
Example
Request
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \ "https://www.ukdatapi.com/api/v1/water/BN1%201AD?depth=standard"
Response
{
"data": {
"location": { "postcode": "BN1 1AD", "local_authority": "Brighton and Hove", "coordinates": { "lat": 50.822, "lng": -0.137 } },
"water_quality_score": {
"score": 52,
"rating": "MODERATE",
"signals": [
{ "factor": "storm_overflows", "contribution": 14, "weight": 0.30, "detail": "12 storm overflow discharge points within 5km" },
{ "factor": "bathing_water", "contribution": 15, "weight": 0.20, "detail": "Nearest bathing water classified as Good" },
{ "factor": "ecological_status", "contribution": 12, "weight": 0.20, "detail": "Nearest waterbody ecological status: Moderate" }
],
"recommendation": "Moderate water quality concerns. Check storm overflow history and water company performance before committing."
},
"storm_overflows": { "overflows_within_5km": 12, "total_spill_count": 87, "total_spill_hours": 1240.5 },
"waterbody": { "nearest_waterbody": "Brighton Marina", "wfd_classification": "Moderate" },
"bathing_water": { "nearest_classification": "Good", "sites": [{ "name": "Brighton Central", "classification": "Good", "distance_km": 0.8 }] },
"water_company": { "company_name": "Southern Water", "ofwat_rating": "Lagging", "performance_score": 30 }
}
}Pricing
| Depth | Credits |
|---|---|
| Summary | 4 |
| Standard | 12 |
| Full | 24 |
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