Friars Meadow, River Stour was rated Good for 2025 — the second of the four grades in the Bathing Water Regulations. That grade comes from bacterial samples taken over several seasons, so it describes the beach's record rather than the water on any given day.
The Environment Agency issues a pollution risk forecast for this beach every morning during the bathing season, and the water company publishes the status of its storm overflows every few minutes.