What is Get River Positive? 

Water is the most precious resource for life on the planet – and that’s why we work every day to Love Every Drop. Including rivers.

Our rivers are the lifeblood of our communities and keeping them healthy means we’re protecting the environment, allowing wildlife to flourish, and providing important opportunities for recreation and the wellbeing of our customers. We know that we need to do our part to safeguard and enhance water quality in our watercourses, but that we also need to give people the right information and be transparent about our role in keeping rivers clean. 

We share the ambitions of our customers, and their expectation that our rivers should be beautiful places, rich in nature, which is why Anglian Water, and Severn Trent, has signed up to five key commitments which form the Get River Positive plan. We are absolutely committed to putting in the work on our end, and bringing the right people together, to get our rivers into shape. 
 
The partnership has committed to: 

 

  • Ensure storm overflows and sewage treatment works do not harm rivers 
  • Create more opportunities for everyone to enjoy our region's rivers 
  • Support others to improve and care for rivers 
  • Enhance our rivers and create new habitats so wildlife can thrive 
  • Be open and transparent about our performance and our plans

 

Below are our Get River Positive commitments - showcasing the tangible ways we’ll be playing our part to prevent harm to UK rivers and ensure they can thrive.  

 

Our Get River Positive commitments are among many important drivers for our work on water resources and wastewater management. Our pledges will be fully reflected in critical plans and programmes, including those for Water Resources Management, Drainage and Wastewater Management, Pollution Incident Reduction, and for the Water Industry National Environment Programme.
 

Get River Positive commitments

Find out more about how we’re committed to achieving a sustainable future for water in our region.  

Taking action on the environment

River water quality is a complex issue, and one that’s not solely in the gift of water companies to rectify. Other significant drivers impact water quality and that's why it's a problem which calls for a joined-up approach.

 

Because of this, we are actively working and collaborating with different sectors to create effective and workable plans for rivers, as set out in Water UK's 21st Century rivers report. Improving the quality of our rivers is something we will maintain our laser like focus on for the rest of this AMP and beyond, and we will carry on doing it in an open, transparent and collaborative way. 

 

Put simply, it's the right thing to do – our purpose demands it, our customers want it, and our people and shareholders are wholeheartedly committed to it.

 

Read our Ofwat ‘Taking action on the environment’ pack to find out more.

How we're taking action on the environment