SEWAGE CAMPAIGN
RAISING AWARNESS OR POLUTED RIVERS AROUND THE UK
In 2023, it was becoming apparent that a seemingly-endless number of stories about sewage pollution were being covered by news outlets, both up and down the country, but also nationally.
With the UK ranked last in Europe for bathing water quality, it’s evident that something needs to be done about this ever-pressing environmental issue.
WITH THE UK RANKED LAST IN THE EUROPE
HOW ARE REBOOT HELPING TO RAISE AWARENESS OF SEWAGE POLLUTION?
Here, at Reboot, we are more than just an SEO agency.
As a company with an innate passion for environmental protection, we decided to run a campaign exploring the latest raw sewage dumping statistics for England and Wales, to see how bad the issue really is.
Using data from over 16,000 sites, alongside historical bathing water quality samples, and gridded precipitation observational data from the Environment Agency and Met Office, we were able to analyse the trends and judge the extent of raw sewage pollution across England and Wales.
OUR RESULTS WERE QUITE ALARMING:
Average concentrations of E.coli (EC) and Intestinal Enterococci (IE) were up by around a fifth (18-20%) between 2017-19 and 2020-22.
Some local authorities have seen up to a 98% increase in faecal indicator organisms in their bathing water between 2017-22.
Some areas of England and Wales recorded more than 111,000 hours (or 4,628 days worth) of sewage release.
Between 2017-22, the average sewage spill duration increased by almost a fifth (18%), from 5.1 to 7.4 hours, whereas the average number of recorded spill events per overflow rose by more than a quarter (28%) from 13.2 to 29.4.
WHY IS THIS AWARENESS NEEDED?
Despite a large increase in the number of sensitive macroinvertebrates since the 1990s, only 14% of waterways in England and Wales meet the criteria for “good ecological status”. In addition, every single waterway analysed failed to meet the required chemical standards to be deemed “acceptable”.
As of 2023, sewage treatment works now discharge 67% less phosphorus, and 79% less ammonia into rivers compared to 1995. However, this is still a significant amount of pollutants heading into our waters that causes eutrophication, starving aquatic life of oxygen and nutrients.
Bathing waters around the UK coastline are in their best condition for decades. In 2022, just under three-quarters (72%) of beaches and inland waters achieved ‘Excellent’ standard. This is a positive step, given that at the turn of the century, most would have failed to even meet the minimum requirements. However, this does not escape the fact that billions of tonnes of raw sewage continue to be pumped into our seas and onto our beaches.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEAN WATER
Clean water is essential to our survival.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that water is “the most important resource for sustaining ecosystems.” In turn, this provides a life-supporting service for people, animals, and plants.
From a human perspective, safe, clean water is needed for cooking, washing, and sanitation. It is also vital for our physical, mental, economic, social, and spiritual development.
Clean water is also needed for a variety of recreational activities, such as swimming, water sports, and fishing. With almost all of the UK’s waterways deemed too polluted to swim in, a 2022 House of Commons Committee report concluded that no river in England was free from chemical contamination.
Therefore, having clean water to swim and bathe in means we maintain the health of people and the communities who use the water. In 2022, just under two in five (39%) people reported sickness after bathing in a sewage discharge area, with the Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) group claiming that up to 75% of UK rivers pose a serious risk to human health.
Clean water is also integral from an ecological perspective. It is vital to the growth and protection of our ecosystems, so they may survive and flourish in a healthy environment. Clean water ensures that biodiversity is maintained (both on a local, national, and international scale), by supplying nutrients that help sustain food chains and food webs within the ecological communities that live there.
