WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF THE POLLUTION?

On a human level, the UK’s water users are as likely to become ill from seawater as they were in the 1990s, with conditions ranging from sore throats and upset stomachs to serious illnesses like gastroenteritis, hepatitis and E. coli. According to the European Centre for Environment and

Human Health, people who swim in UK waters regularly are three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant E. coli in their guts.

Every single river In England and Wales is now affected by the polluted discharges; none are free of problems, and only 14% meet ‘good’ ecological status. The delicate eco-systems, fragile in the first place, are being torn asunder, with ecology experts naming the worst affected rivers as ‘dead’.

The Environmental Audit Committee wrote in January 2022, “The build-up of high levels of nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, from sewage and animal waste, is choking

In the end, it has now come down to The Times newspaper, which recently launched its ‘Clean It Up’ campaign, calling for faster investment and tougher regulations and punishment to repeat offenders. Additionally, comedian Paul Whitehouse and former Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey are spearheading the campaign against the ongoing behaviour.

This time, as environmental protests go, this one has some traction with the general public who, for the most part, only look upon the water companies’ greed as the prime reason for the pollution.

For its part, the Government is seeking to bring in new legislation which may or may not resolve the problem. The perverse aspect of this is that the appropriate legislation already exists, and has done so for decades, and yet the appropriate agencies don’t seek to use the judicial routes.

Former Environment Secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, announced in October that Defra would raise the levy against water companies for pollution, from £250,000 to £250 million. However, current Secretary of State for Defra –a Government department which could and should be doing so much more – Therese Coffey has abandoned those plans, citing that they were ‘disproportionate’. rivers with algal blooms that reduce oxygen levels, suffocating fish, plants and invertebrates.

One wonders how fast the water companies would act if the individual CEOs and company Chairs were to be held financially and legally accountable…?

Along with the stresses of plastic and synthetic chemical pollution and climate change, this is creating multiple pressures undermining the health and resilience of freshwater ecosystems. As a result of pollution in our rivers, freshwater species such as salmon are at risk.”

At every turn, the public, wildlife, and the environment have been ignored. The principal raison d’être behind water privatisation – that the private sector paid for the repairs to the UK water supply and drainage system, with all its appropriate rewards – was little more than an outfall pipe dream, and has long been flushed away.