The majority of popular inland bathing spots in England have been found to be unsafe for swimming, according to a report by Surfers Against Sewage. In a survey of a representative sample of popular swimming and water sports locations, 60% were found to have pollution at unsafe levels, the annual report from the campaign group said. Forty […]

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Coastal waters and estuaries have been included in the government’s plan to tackle sewage pollution, in a win for campaigners who threatened legal action, ENDSreport has said. The UK Government issued a press release that stated: Government expands plan to tackle storm overflows, including all coastal and estuary sites Marine protected areas and shellfish water […]

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Defra has published a summary of responses and the government response to the recent consultation on continuous water quality monitoring and event duration monitoring. The consultation sought views on the government’s proposals to enhance the monitoring of storm overflows and final effluent discharges into watercourses Some key points from the government’s response Urban Pollution Management […]

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National Highways (NH) has published its 2030 Water Quality Plan. It sets out a high-level programme of work to mitigate all high-risk outfalls by 2030. There are 1,236 outfalls & soakaways identified by NH as having a potential high risk of pollution. Of these, 145 have a verified high risk of pollution and therefore require […]

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A coalition of 15 leading environmental groups has written to the Government urging it not to delay or cut back on environmental spend at PR24 to improve water quality. The organisations include the Wildlife Trusts, Rivers Trust, Surfers against Sewage, RSPB England, Friends of the Earth and Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. They were responding to […]

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Water Supply and Quality: New Briefing Notes available CIWEM’s water supply and quality specialist panel has put together four new briefing notes on water quality issues. They are a source of information compiled by experts to better understand the key concepts and issues related to these specific water quality topics. You can find the new […]

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WWT has published a report ‘Wetlands for Water Quality: Creating and managing treatment wetlands to improve water quality. Read the press release here and the executive summary below. Executive summary Wetlands can play a vital role in helping us tackle our current water quality crisis by filtering out pollutants that pass through naturally occurring wetlands. […]

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Recreational drugs, pesticides and medicines have been found in seawater samples collected off the south coast of England. Researchers from Brunel and Portsmouth universities analysed nearly 300 samples from Langstone and Chichester harbours, in Hampshire and West Sussex.   Photo by Bob Brewer   The researchers said they found more than 50 different chemical compounds. They […]

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