The river is subject to pollution from a range of diffuse and point sources, including sewage discharge, urban development and poor livestock management.
Environment Agency data shows that in 2023, the river was polluted by
Severn Trent Water on 106 occasions, totaling 335 hours of continuous discharge. Discharges along the river had steadily decreased between 2020 and 2022 but increased in 2023. Historic and ongoing pollution has led to a complete kill of a four mile stretch of the river below the Severn Trent Water sewage treatment plant at Checkley. Published Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) data shows that raw sewage discharges from the Combined Sewer Outfalls (CSO) are increasing in frequency, even during dry periods. == Angling ==