来源：《新科学家》
原文刊登日期：2023年3月8日
There are close to 1500 rivers in the UK, but just two stretches have been officially approved as swimming destinations – and even these are currently too polluted to use safely. While campaigners hope that other rivers will soon receive this “bathing status” designation, some fear the label is misleading, as there are few requirements to clean up pollution that can harm health and the local ecology.
英国有近1500条河流，但只有两个河段被官方批准为游泳目的地，而且即使是这两个河段，目前也因污染严重而不能安全使用。虽然活动人士希望其他河流很快也能获得“游泳状态”标示，但一些人担心这个标签会产生误导，因为获得“沐浴状态”标示几乎没有要求清理可能损害健康和当地生态的污染。
More than 400 bathing waters in England are tested by the UK’s Environment Agency (EA) for levels of Escherichia coli, which causes diarrhoea, and intestinal enterococci, which are linked to urinary tract infections.
英国环境署(EA)对英格兰400多个游泳水域进行了大肠杆菌(会导致腹泻)和肠球菌(会导致尿路感染)的检测。
These tests occur 20 times at each site during the “bathing season” of mid-May to the end of September. Most are beaches, with just two stretches of river: the Ilkley bathing site on the river Wharfe in West Yorkshire and a stretch of the Thames in Oxford.
这些检测在5月中旬至9月底的“游泳季”期间在每个地点进行20次。大多数都是海滩，只有两个河段：西约克郡沃夫河畔的伊克利浴场和泰晤士河的牛津河段。
Based on its measurements, the EA categorises bathing waters as either excellent, good, sufficient or poor. Last year, 93 per cent were deemed excellent or good, but the two rivers were rated poor. Swimming is still permitted in them, but officials have had to put up signs advising people against doing so.
根据测量结果，英国环境署将游泳水域分为优秀、良好、合格和差。去年，93%的水域被评为优秀或良好，但这两个河段被评为差。在这两个河段内游泳仍被允许，但官员们不得不张贴告示，建议人们不要在此游泳。
Part of the problem is that applications to grant bathing status don’t require any water quality test, with tests only taking place once the status has been given. Given the generally poor state of England’s rivers, newly granted rivers are likely to be in poor health. In fact, the sole requirement, set by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is that the water has “a large number of bathers in relation to any infrastructure or facilities that are provided”. In other words, the water can receive bathing status even if people are swimming in pollution.
部分问题在于，授予“游泳状态”的申请不需要进行任何水质检测，只有在授予“游泳状态”后才会进行检测。鉴于英格兰河流的总体状况不佳，新批准的河流很可能健康状况不佳。事实上，英国环境、食品和农村事务部设定的唯一要求是，“提供的任何基础设施或设备都必须有大量的游泳者”。换句话说，即使人们在污染中游泳，该水域也能获得“游泳状态”。
Richard Tyler at the Save the Wye coalition, a campaign group aimed at improving the water quality of the UK’s fourth longest river, says he fears the general public don’t understand the distinction between a river’s bathing status and its ecological status. “Just because it is safe to swim in a river does not mean it cannot still be polluted,” he says.
理查德·泰勒在“拯救怀伊河联盟”工作，这是一个旨在改善英国第四大河流水质的运动组织。他说，他担心普通公众不明白河流的游泳状态和生态状态之间的区别。他说：“仅仅因为在河里游泳是安全的，并不意味着它就不会被污染。”