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Live levels from 2 monitoring stations across Hertfordshire, updated every 15 minutes.
| Station | Level now | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buntingford | 0.05 mASD 1h ago | Low | ||
| 20.2 km by river | ||||
| Wadesmill | 0.19 mASD 1h ago | Normal | ||
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.
Streams and rivers with a gauge whose water joins the Rib 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.
Joins the Rib between Buntingford and Wadesmill, no more than 13.8 km by river above Wadesmill.
| Braughing | 0.09 mASD 1h ago | Normal |
Its water passes Wadesmill and every gauge below it on the Rib. It does not pass Buntingford or the gauges above it.
Below Wadesmill, its water next reaches Tumbling Bay Weir, a gauge on River Lea, 10.2 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.
3 storm overflows are traced upstream of Wadesmill, the Rib’s lowest gauge on the river map: on the Rib itself, on its gauged tributaries, and on smaller streams that join above there.
Official figures for 2025, for the overflows traced upstream of Wadesmill: 15 spills over 157 hours in total, across all 3.
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 Rib includes the smaller streams that join it there.
1 other overflow within 3 km of these gauges is placed below the Rib’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: © 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.
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.
9 sampling points on the River Rib and the streams that join it above Wadesmill, and below it. 8 have a sample from the last 12 months; 9 have any sample banked. Listed from the source down, grouped by the next gauge each one's water reaches.
| Sampling point | Watercourse (map) | Above the gauge | Last sample | Latest results (river water) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rib at Chapel Green Common | River Rib | 6.5 km | 11 Sep 2026 · 27 days ago | Oxygen 101.8% Mar 2026Temp 7.4 °C Mar 2026pH 8.23 Mar 2026Conductivity 593 µS/cm Mar 2026 |
| Rib at Chipping - Buntingford | River Rib | 3.7 km | 10 Dec 2025 · 10 months ago | Oxygen 92.9%Temp 8.8 °CpH 8.09Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Sampling point | Watercourse (map) | Above the gauge | Last sample | Latest results (river water) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rib at Westmill | River Rib | 17 km | 4 Sep 2026 · 34 days ago | Oxygen 73.2%Temp 15.1 °CpH 7.12Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Rib at A10 New Bridge | River Rib | 15 km | 1 Sep 2026 · 37 days ago | Oxygen 90%Temp 13.7 °CpH 7.83Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Quin at Braughing Bridge | River Quin | 14 km | 1 Sep 2026 · 37 days ago | Oxygen 92.7%Temp 13.8 °CpH 7.63Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Rib at Standon | River Rib | 11 km | 1 Sep 2026 · 37 days ago | Oxygen 79.2%Temp 13.4 °CpH 7.75Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Rib at Old Church Lane | River Rib | 1.0 km | 2 Dec 2024 · 22 months ago | Oxygen 93.4%Temp 9.7 °CpH 7.92Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Sampling point | Watercourse (map) | Below the gauge | Last sample | Latest results (river water) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rib at Bengeo Hall | River Rib | 6.4 km | 1 Sep 2026 · 37 days ago | Oxygen 74.8%Temp 16.2 °CpH 7.81Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l |
| Lea tributary downstream of Bengeo Bridge | River Rib | 6.7 km | 1 Sep 2026 · 37 days ago | Oxygen 77.4%Temp 16 °CpH 7.83Ammonia 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.
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