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Home › Rivers › South Forty Foot Drain

South Forty Foot Drain water levels

Live levels from 4 monitoring stations across Lincolnshire, updated every 15 minutes.

4stations
0above typical high

Gauges

Monitoring stations, source to mouth

StationTownLevel nowStatusTrend
Dowsby FenGosberton Clough0.76 mASD 32m agoNormal—
6.4 km by river
Donington BridgeBridge End0.73 mASD 47m agoNormal—

On other watercourses

These gauges are filed under the South Forty Foot Drain, but the river map places them on another watercourse, so they are not in South Forty Foot Drain’s order above.

Billingborough Ousemereon Ouse Mere LodeBillingborough0.03 mASD 32m agoLow—
Its water joins South Forty Foot Drain above Donington Bridge, 7.2 km by river.
Swatonon Swaton EauSwaton0.17 mASD 32m agoNormal—
Its water joins South Forty Foot Drain above Donington Bridge.

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 South Forty Foot Drain above one of its gauges, from the source down. Named streams without a gauge that have a page here are listed at the end.

3 gauged tributaries, 3 gauges

Ouse Mere Lode name from the river map

Joins South Forty Foot Drain between Dowsby Fen and Donington Bridge, no more than 7.2 km by river above Donington Bridge.

Billingborough Ousemere0.03 mASD 32m agoLow

Its water passes Donington Bridge and every gauge below it on South Forty Foot Drain. It does not pass Dowsby Fen or the gauges above it.

Pointon Lode

Joins South Forty Foot Drain between Dowsby Fen and Donington Bridge, no more than 8.9 km by river above Donington Bridge.

Pointon Lode-0.12 mAOD 32m agoLow

Its water passes Donington Bridge and every gauge below it on South Forty Foot Drain. It does not pass Dowsby Fen or the gauges above it.

Swaton Eau name from the river map

Joins South Forty Foot Drain between Dowsby Fen and Donington Bridge.

Swaton0.17 mASD 32m agoNormal

Its water passes Donington Bridge and every gauge below it on South Forty Foot Drain. It does not pass Dowsby Fen or the gauges above it.

Where South Forty Foot Drain goes

Below Donington Bridge, its water next reaches Hobhole Sluice, a gauge on The Haven, 25.5 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 South Forty Foot Drain 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

None of the storm overflows FloodRadar holds is traced upstream of Donington Bridge on the river map. That is not the same as none: the map leaves out many small streams and culverts, so an overflow it cannot place may still drain here, and not every company publishes every overflow.

Near these gauges, connection not known

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

  • Donington Water Recycling Centre Not discharging
    Anglian Water · into Mill Drain · 2.3 km from Donington Bridge in a straight line · its watercourse is not on the river map · 2025: 45 spills, 212 h

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: © Anglian 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.

14 sampling points on the South Forty Foot Drain and the streams that join it above Donington Bridge, and below it. 7 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 Dowsby Fen South Forty Foot Drain 5 points, 3 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Above the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Bottom FarmNew Dike9.1 km2 Jul 2026 · 3 months agoOxygen 123.7%Temp 21.6 °CpH 8Ammonia 0.0054 mg/l
Haconby Lane Drain tributary of Car Dykeunnamed stream9.1 km12 Dec 2024 · 22 months agoOxygen 98.2% Dec 2024Temp 7.5 °C Dec 2024pH 8.1 Dec 2024Ammonia 0.031 mg/l Dec 2024
Old Beck Doctors LaneOld Beck8.8 km18 Dec 2025 · 10 months agoOxygen 97.7%Temp 8.7 °CpH 7.95Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Old Beck DunsbyOld Beck8.3 kmLast sampled 11 Mar 2020, before the imported period
Dunsby Car DykeCar Dyke6.7 kmLast sampled 13 Mar 2020, before the imported period
Above Donington Bridge South Forty Foot Drain 6 points, 5 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Above the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
Marse Dike at Mareham LaneMarse Dike11 km4 Dec 2024 · 22 months agoOxygen 96.3%Temp 6.7 °CpH 8.11Ammonia 0.018 mg/l
Pointon LodePointon Lode7.9 km10 Sep 2026 · 28 days agoOxygen 55.2%Temp 14.9 °CpH 7.53Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Victoria BridgeOuse Mere Lode7.2 km5 Mar 2025 · 19 months agoOxygen 119.4%Temp 6.7 °CpH 8.33Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Horbling sewage treatment worksOuse Mere Lode6.6 kmLast sampled 10 Mar 2020, before the imported period
South Forty Foot Kingston BridgeSouth Forty Foot Drain6.4 km9 Sep 2026 · 29 days agoOxygen 67.8%Temp 15.9 °CpH 7.62Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Billingborough LodeBillingborough Lode3.7 km9 Sep 2026 · 29 days agoOxygen 84.6%Temp 13.4 °CpH 7.96Ammonia below 0.03 mg/l
Below Donington Bridge 3 points, 2 with samples
Sampling pointWatercourse (map)Below the gaugeLast sampleLatest results (river water)
South Forty Foot Swineshead Bridge BottomSouth Forty Foot Drain9.1 km16 Dec 2025 · 10 months agoOxygen 87.1%Temp 7.9 °CpH 7.92Ammonia 0.1 mg/l
South Forty Foot Drain at Elm CottageSouth Forty Foot Drain15 kmLast sampled 9 Dec 2022, before the imported period
South Forty Foot Wyberton West RoadSouth Forty Foot Drain20 km7 Sep 2026 · 31 days agoOxygen 63.3%Temp 18.8 °CpH 7.49Ammonia 0.51 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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