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Home › Rivers › River Chess

River Chess water levels

Live levels from 2 monitoring stations across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, updated every 15 minutes.

2stations
0above typical high

Gauges

Monitoring stations, source to mouth

StationTownLevel nowStatusTrend
CheshamChesham0.33 mASD 1h agoNormal—
15.3 km by river
RickmansworthstructureRickmansworth0.09 mASD 1h agoNormal—

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 Chess above one of its gauges, from the source down. The river map knows where gauges are, not every stream, so a tributary without a gauge is not listed here.

No gauged tributary joins the Chess above Rickmansworth on the river map. Streams without a gauge are not counted here.

Where the Chess goes

Below Rickmansworth, its water next reaches Denham Colne, a gauge on River Colne, 11.9 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.

Storm overflows upstream

1 storm overflow is traced upstream of Rickmansworth, the Chess’s lowest gauge on the river map: on the Chess itself, on its gauged tributaries, and on smaller streams that join above there.

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

Official figures for 2025, for the overflow traced upstream of Rickmansworth: 7 spills over 58 hours.

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 Chess includes the smaller streams that join it there.

Between Chesham and Rickmansworth1 overflow

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: © Thames 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.

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

Above Chesham River Chess 1 point
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Above the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Chess upstream of Tennis CourtsRiver Chess0.4 km18 Sep 2026 · 20 days agoOxygen 52.3% Aug 2026Temp 14.1 °C Aug 2026pH 7.17 Aug 2026Conductivity 571 µS/cm Aug 2026
Above Rickmansworth River Chess 6 points, 4 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Above the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Chess above Chesham S/WRiver Chess12 km14 Aug 2026 · 55 days agoOxygen 88.9%Temp 15.3 °CpH 7.88Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Chess at Bois Mill, CheshamRiver Chess12 km3 Aug 2026 · 2 months agoOxygen 82.1%Temp 14.9 °CpH 7.98Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Old River Chess at Latimer Park FarmRiver Chess10.0 kmNo sample published 1 Oct 2023 – 7 Oct 2026
Chess at Road Bridge, LatimerRiver Chess9.5 km4 Sep 2026 · 34 days agoOxygen 95.2%Temp 17.6 °CpH 7.86Ammonia 0.036 mg/l
Chess at CheniesRiver Chess8.4 kmNo sample published 1 Oct 2023 – 7 Oct 2026
At ScotsbridgeRiver Chess0.7 km12 Aug 2026 · 57 days agoOxygen 92.8%Temp 16.8 °CpH 8.3Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Below Rickmansworth 1 point
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Below the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Chess above ColneRiver Chess0.1 km14 Aug 2026 · 55 days agoOxygen 92.1%Temp 18.5 °CpH 8.19Ammonia below 0.03 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.

Wave tracker for this river → Buckinghamshire rivers → Hertfordshire rivers → All UK rivers