20 Oct 2022

Homes across London remain at risk of being flooded by effluvia as a result of the capital’s Victorian sewage system and heavy rainfall, the BBC has reported.     The London Flood Review concluded current infrastructure is unfit for purpose, especially in extreme weather. Downpours last July, equivalent to two months’ of rain within two […]

13 Oct 2022

Environmental charity Thames21 is calling for the government to make an immediate decision on banning plastic in wet wipes in order to help tackle this sewage-based pollution ending up in the River Thames.     The charity is making the call as it launches its second Big Wet Wipe Count of the year. Wet wipes […]

11 Oct 2022

Amendment to treaty on dumping of waste at sea will remove sewage sludge from list of wastes which may be given dumping permit. ​   The amendment to the London Protocol will remove sewage sludge from the list of permissible wastes – wastes which may be considered for dumping at sea. Parties to the treaties […]

29 Sep 2022

The Environment Agency (EA) has been accused of allowing water firms to pollute England’s rivers, the BBC has reported. Whistleblowers said it ignored its duties and failed to stop firms pouring raw sewage into the country’s rivers. The claims feature in the film “SEVERN: the poisoning of Britain’s Amazon”.     However, the EA said […]

29 Sep 2022

The BBC reported that the Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey has made a surprise appearance at the Labour Party conference to make a speech on water pollution.   The environmental campaigner and Teenage Kicks singer says water companies are “profiteering” while every river in England is polluted, often by the industry itself. The rock band singer highlights […]

22 Sep 2022

A viewpoint from Veronica Edmonds-Brown, Senior Lecturer in Aquatic Ecology, University of Hertfordshire. An extract from a piece first published in The Conversation: As a child swimming off the coast of south Devon in the 1960s, I believed the warm water passing through my legs was the Gulf Stream current. Now, as an adult, I […]

15 Sep 2022

On his first day in office the newly appointed environment secretary ordered water company chief executives to submit plans to make “significant improvements” to reduce sewage discharged into waterways within two weeks. Ranil Jayawardena said his message to sector heads had been that the current approach is “not good enough”. Water companies given two week […]

08 Sep 2022

UKHSA and MHRA are expanding polio sewage surveillance to a range of areas outside of the capital. Following the findings of poliovirus in sewage samples collected from the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works, which covers parts of North and East London, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) working with the Medicines and Healthcare product Regulatory […]