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River Browney water levels

Live levels from 1 monitoring station across County Durham, updated every 15 minutes.

1stations
0above typical high

Gauges

Monitoring stations, source to mouth

StationTownLevel nowStatusTrend
Burn HallSunderland Bridge0.08 m 45m agoLow—

Stations are listed from source to mouth as the water flows, traced on the river map (OS Open Rivers) and the Environment Agency’s own links between its gauges. A distance “by river” is along the river, and is shown only where the map traces the path.

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Gauged tributaries

Streams and rivers with a gauge whose water joins the Browney above one of its gauges, from the source down. Named streams without a gauge that have a page here are listed at the end.

1 gauged tributary, 1 gauge

Where the Browney goes

Below Burn Hall, its water next reaches Durham New Elvet Bridge, a gauge on River Wear, 11.2 km by river downstream.

Tributaries and where they join are traced on the river map (OS Open Rivers, edition 2026-04) and the Environment Agency’s links between its gauges. The map holds distances between gauges, not the junctions themselves, so a junction is placed between two gauges, and no further up than the tributary’s own lowest gauge. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.

Streams without a gauge

Named streams on the river map that flow into the Browney and have no gauge of their own. Each has a page with what is known about it: the next gauge downstream, and any storm overflows or water-sampling points placed on it.

Storm overflows upstream

37 storm overflows are traced upstream of Burn Hall, the Browney’s lowest gauge on the river map: on the Browney itself, on its gauged tributaries, and on smaller streams that join above there.

  • 0 report discharging now
  • 35 not discharging
  • 2 offline or silent: 1 monitor offline, 1 status unknown, 0 no live feed

Official figures for 2025, for the overflows traced upstream of Burn Hall: 1,064 spills over 4,342 hours in total, across all 37.

Each overflow is listed in the stretch above the first gauge its water reaches, from the source down, as on the Gauges tab. A stretch of the Browney includes the smaller streams that join it there. Where a stretch or a tributary has more than 4, the 3 discharging now or nearest its gauge are listed, the rest are counted, and every one is in that gauge’s “Upstream of here” list. Show every overflow in every stretch →

Above Burn Hall, the Browney’s highest gauge32 overflows
  • Stonebridge Sewage Pumping Station Not discharging
    Northumbrian Water · into Browney · 4.6 km by river above Burn Hall · 2025: 34 spills, 66 h
  • Grove Terrace CSO Du005 Monitor offline
    Northumbrian Water · into River Browney · 3.6 km by river above Burn Hall · 2025: 38 spills, 42 h
  • Snowdons Farm CSO Not discharging
    Northumbrian Water · into River Browney · 2.1 km by river above Burn Hall · 2025: 36 spills, 347 h

and 29 more: show all 32 overflows on this stretch → All above Burn Hall, nearest first →

Smallhope Burn, above Lanchester Front Streetjoins the Browney above Burn Hall5 overflows
  • Butsfield Lane CSO Der092 Not discharging
    Northumbrian Water · into Smallhope Burn · 5.0 km by river above Lanchester Front Street · 2025: 46 spills, 70 h
  • East Of Knitsley Grange Farm CSO Not discharging
    Northumbrian Water · into Smallhope Burn · 4.9 km by river above Lanchester Front Street · 2025: 18 spills, 32 h
  • Knitsley Sewage Treatment Works Not discharging
    Northumbrian Water · into Smallhope Burn · 4.6 km by river above Lanchester Front Street · 2025: 41 spills, 280 h

and 2 more: show all 5 overflows on this stretch → All above Lanchester Front Street, nearest first →

Near these gauges, connection not known

Within 3 km of one of the Browney’s gauges in a straight line, but the river map cannot say whether their water reaches it.

  • Browney Lane CSO Not discharging
    Northumbrian Water · into Unnamed Trib. Of River Browney · 890 m from Burn Hall in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map · 2025: 44 spills, 165 h
  • Front Street CSO Not discharging
    Northumbrian Water · into Browney Trib · 890 m from Burn Hall in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map · 2025: 0 spills, 0 h
  • Durham Skill Centre CSO Du008 Not discharging
    Northumbrian Water · into Goat's Beck Trib River Browney · 1.3 km from Burn Hall in a straight line · no mapped watercourse close enough to be sure · 2025: 13 spills, 12 h

3 more near these gauges whose connection is not known.

7 other overflows within 3 km of these gauges are placed below the Browney’s lowest gauge or on another river, so not listed.

A status is the water company’s own monitor: it says whether an overflow is discharging, never how much or why, and a spill does not by itself explain a change in a river level. A status older than two hours is shown as unknown. Annual figures are the official returns: 12/24-hour spills for England and Wales, overflow events for Scotland (Scottish Water counts differently, so the two cannot be compared). “No data” means the monitor produced no usable data that year, not zero. Overflows are placed on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels: an overflow the map cannot place may still drain here. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026. Sewage in Britain’s rivers →

Live status: © Northumbrian Water storm overflow activity data, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Annual figures for England: Environment Agency Event Duration Monitoring return, © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Water samples

Dated samples taken by the Environment Agency, not live readings. Results are published days to months after the sample is taken, and many points are sampled only a few times a year, or have not been sampled for years.

23 sampling points on the River Browney and the streams that join it above Burn Hall, and below it. 6 have a sample from the last 12 months; 10 have any sample banked. Listed from the source down, grouped by the next gauge each one's water reaches.

Above Lanchester Front Street Smallhope Burn 5 points, 3 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Above the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Smallhope Burn upstream of Knitsley sewage treatment worksSmallhope Burn5.1 km15 Dec 2025 · 10 months agoOxygen 99.1%Temp 8 °CpH 7.94Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Stockerley Burn at Bogle Hole BridgeStockerley Burn4.7 kmLast sampled 9 Mar 2020, before the imported period
Smallhope Burn downstream of Knitsley sewage treatment worksSmallhope Burn3.4 km5 May 2026 · 5 months agoOxygen 98.9%Temp 10.7 °CpH 7.85Ammonia 1.1 mg/l
Stockerley Burn at Stockerley BridgeStockerley Burn3.2 km5 May 2026 · 5 months agoOxygen 95.3%Temp 9.6 °CpH 8.33Ammonia 0.048 mg/l
Smallhope Burn upstream of Newhouses Burn and downstream of Stockerley BurnSmallhope Burn1.2 kmLast sampled 7 Dec 2021, before the imported period
Above Burn Hall River Browney 15 points, 6 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Above the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Pan Burn at Pan BridgePan Burn28 kmLast sampled 3 Feb 2006, before the imported period
Pan Burn at SatleyPan Burn27 km6 Aug 2026 · 2 months agoOxygen 93.1%Temp 13 °CpH 8.05Ammonia 0.022 mg/l
Smallhope Burn at LanchesterSmallhope Burn21 km4 Mar 2025 · 19 months agoOxygen 101.1%Temp 7.2 °CpH 7.82Ammonia 0.04 mg/l
Browney above Smallhope BurnRiver Browney20 km7 Apr 2025 · 18 months agoOxygen 110.1%Temp 9.8 °CpH 8.65Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Smallhope Burn upstream of BrowneyWaters' Meeting18 km4 Mar 2025 · 19 months agoOxygen 103%Temp 7.4 °CpH 8Ammonia 0.052 mg/l
Hedleyhope Burn at Hedley HillHedleyhope Burn18 kmLast sampled 3 Feb 2006, before the imported period
Browney at MaltonRiver Browney18 kmLast sampled 5 Mar 2020, before the imported period
Deerness at East HedleyhopeRiver Deerness18 kmLast sampled 16 Jan 2002, before the imported period
Deerness at WaterhousesRiver Deerness15 kmLast sampled 15 May 2001, before the imported period
Browney at Langley ParkRiver Browney13 kmLast sampled 9 Mar 2020, before the imported period
Deerness upstream of Priest BurnRiver Deerness11 kmLast sampled 6 Dec 2021, before the imported period
Browney at BearparkRiver Browney7.0 kmLast sampled 4 Mar 2020, before the imported period
Browney at StonebridgeRiver Browney4.6 kmLast sampled 9 Mar 2020, before the imported period
Deerness at A690River Deerness3.7 km6 Mar 2025 · 19 months agoOxygen 105.5%Temp 5.7 °CpH 8.43Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Browney at Garden House (NW of of North Wood)River Browney0.5 km5 May 2026 · 5 months agoOxygen 99.1%Temp 10.7 °CpH 8.04Ammonia 0.087 mg/l
Below Burn Hall 3 points, 1 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Below the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Browney upstream of Browney sewage treatment worksRiver Browney0.2 kmLast sampled 28 Oct 2002, before the imported period
Browney 300YDS downstream of Browney sewage treatment worksRiver Browney0.5 kmLast sampled 28 Oct 2002, before the imported period
Browney at A167River Browney1.8 km1 Sep 2026 · 37 days agoOxygen 86.6%Temp 15.3 °CpH 7.93Ammonia 0.036 mg/l

Distances are along the river to the gauge named. England's samples only.

FloodRadar does not grade these results: there is no overall score, and official river classifications are a separate dataset. A sample taken downstream of an overflow does not by itself show where anything in it came from. River connections and distances are traced on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels.

Water samples: Environment Agency Water Quality Archive, © Environment Agency and/or database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.