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    Every river in the country is polluted, Environment Secretary warns
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    Every river in the country is polluted, Environment Secretary warns

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    1. TheTelegraph on

      ***The Telegraph reports:***

      Every single river in the country is polluted, the Environment Secretary has said as he warned that water companies have been covering up the true scale of [sewage](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2024/05/21/fordingbridge-designated-bathing-sites-uk-polluted-sewage/) spills.

      [Steve Reed](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/07/10/labour-launches-crackdown-on-water-companies/) said he is “not surprised” that people are worried about swimming in the sea, lakes and rivers around the country as there is no “guarantee” that the water is not contaminated.

      In his first interview since taking up office, he told The Telegraph: “Every single river in England today is polluted… The public quite rightly are furious that they have to worry about letting their kids splash about in the river, for fear of what they might catch, because it’s [polluted](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/24/rivers-south-pollution-contamination-dangerous/).”

      Mr Reed said he will introduce a new system monitoring sewage [spills](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/29/polluted-water-surge-hospital-admissions-sewage-health/), which involves independent scrutiny of the data, to stop water companies from “massaging the figures”.

      The Environment Agency is currently conducting the largest-ever [criminal investigation](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/16/ofwat-water-companies-investigate-potential-illegal-sewage/) into potential law breaking by water and sewerage companies at thousands of sewage treatment works.

      Sewage was spilt 464,056 times last year, totalling more than 3.6 million hours, a record high since monitoring began, according to the latest data published by the Environment Agency.

      Water companies are permitted to release sewage into rivers and seas during exceptional circumstances, such as extreme wet weather, to stop it backing up into people’s homes.

      But the regularity of spills has led to criticism that the industry has failed to invest in infrastructure to cope with changing weather and increasing population.

      **Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/20/steve-reed-pollution-seaside-rivers-lakes-swimming-sewage/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/20/steve-reed-pollution-seaside-rivers-lakes-swimming-sewage/)

    4. TtotheC81 on

      In my local area sticklebacks have vanished out of the shallower waterways, and the amphibian population has nose dived over the last few years. Hell, last year there was barely any frogspawn in the local waterways, and this year I spotted none outside of a small school of tadpoles swimming in the local nature preserve. But you know what I have seen? A brown, dirty foam on the waterways every April, just before spawning season, and algal blooms in the local canal that are indicative of phosphate run off from the local farmland. Amphibian populations are a *very* good indicator as to the health of your local waterways, their skin (being semi-permeable) making them far more prone to poisoning by toxins leaking into the water.