Concerns over water quality at sports centre

Fresh concerns have been raised about the water quality at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottinghamshire.

Kayaker Eoin Matthews said he fell "very ill" 36 hours after falling into the white water facility and swallowing water.

He contacted James Naish, his local MP, who raised the issue in a debate in parliament on public ownership of water companies last month.

Leisure Solutions Community Trust, which operates the site alongside Serco for Nottinghamshire County Council, said it had "limited ability to directly influence the quality of incoming river water" while Severn Trent said water conditions were "influenced by many factors".

Matthews said he and his children had been using facilities at the centre "for a couple of years", but became sick after an incident earlier this year.

"A few months ago I went kayaking, I went into the river on the white water course and swallowed a lot of water, and I was very ill about 36 hours later," he said.

"You hear of it happening, but you don't really want to think about it - you know there's a risk, but you hope it doesn't to happen to you.

"People seem to get kind of immune to it, [and] I go reasonably regularly, I was hoping I was immune, but I wasn't."

Matthews said falling ill has made him more reluctant to bring his family down to the site, and wants to see more money spent on making waterways safer.

"It's really frustrating, because we've got this amazing facility, the river and the white water centre, and all the stuff along the river... but along with that goes this risk that you might get sick," he said.

"We've got a great resource, it's just a case of looking after it."

Paddle UK's Ben Seal says there is growing awareness about the risks of dirty rivers [BBC]

Ben Seal, head of access and environment from Paddle UK, the national governing body for paddle sports, said the "big issue" of water quality was not just limited to the River Trent, with people more knowledgeable about the potential risks.

Andy Burnham used his speech to Labour conference last week to announce that a new Water Bill would reverse the ban on nationalising water companies.

But Seal wants the legislation to also include greater protections for public health.

"It's not a unique situation here - paddlers, swimmers, divers, canoeists, rowers, are all worried about getting sick from doing the thing that they love," he said.

"I think what's helpful is that we're pretty good as a community at keeping ourselves safe, we know what to do to prevent ourselves getting sick, but now that more data is available we're becoming more aware of what's in the water, [and] people are gradually getting more and more concerned about the threat of becoming sick."

Naish, who wants the centre to form part of an Olympic bid for the north of England, said the sports centre needed to remain an "exceptional venue", adding residents were "interested in making sure that water quality is improving" around the country.

"The government has made progress, but everybody wants to see quicker progress and they want to know that if they choose to go into the water, it's going to be clean and they won't get sick," he said.

"I really want to make sure that Holme Pierrepont is an exceptional venue so that if we do make a bid [for the Olympics], we're in a great place to win it."

A Severn Trent spokesman said identifying factors that affect water quality "requires specialist analysis and can include wildlife, livestock, private septic tanks, urban runoff and spills", with £2bn being invested over five years "to reduce our impact" and improve services.

"We're sorry to hear about the individual who became unwell after kayaking on the River Trent and welcome the opportunity to work with river users, including water sports clubs," a statement said.

Craig Braham, contract manager for Leisure Solutions Community Trust, said it had "limited ability to directly influence the quality of incoming river water", but said it regularly monitored conditions and communicates with the public so they could "make informed decisions about participation".

"We have the utmost sympathy for anyone who has suffered any ill effects after using natural open waters such as those found at the National Water Sports Centre. However, as with any facility of this kind, water-based activities can carry a risk of illness," he said.

"We encourage users of any open water to take standard precautions to keep as safe as possible from disease, such as covering cuts with waterproof plasters, avoiding swallowing the water and washing promptly afterwards with soap and clean running water."

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