A recent BBC explainer looks at the evidence around so-called ‘dry spills’, claiming that “every major English water company has reported data suggesting they’ve discharged raw sewage when the weather is dry – a practice which is potentially illegal.” Anglian Water responded by publishing De-mystifying dry day spills, rejecting the claims and ‘citing flawed methodology […]
From the BBC More than one million tonnes of raw sewage is estimated to have been released from a pumping station into the North Sea in 2023. Northumbrian Water produced the estimate of how much sewage was released from its Whitburn site after a Freedom of Information (FoI) request from South Tyneside resident Steve Lavelle. […]
A BBC investigation has found that three water companies – Southern Water, Thames Water and Wessex Water, illegally discharged sewage hundreds of times last year on days when it was not raining. The practice, known as “dry spilling”, is banned because it can lead to higher concentrations of sewage in waterways. The BBC says that […]
The BBC reports that firefighters are using treated sewage water after droughts. The article actually describes the use of treated and disinfected *wastewater* to put out fires, rather than abstracting from rivers and lakes in areas of water stress.
From BBC News The government has announced the launch of a new digital map of the entire network of underground power cables, gas pipes, sewers and water mains across the country. The interactive map has been tested in the North East of England and will be rolled out throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland by […]
Covered by the BBC It might feel wet this week but experts are warning that parts of England need unseasonable rainfall to compensate for an abnormally dry winter. Rivers in some of England and Wales ran their lowest on record for February, according to data from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. […]
The Our Seas coalition, a group of 135 organisations, have written an open letter to the BBC suggesting that the BBC TV series Trawlermen ‘has missed a vital opportunity to explore urgent sustainability issues, as well as failing to reflect the important diversity of the fishing industry.’ The coalition says that the new series launched in […]
Climate Assembly – a great film illustrating this in practice Britain has made big promises about reducing our impact on the planet, but getting there means huge changes to our everyday lives. In this surprising and funny documentary, we follow members of the UK’s first ever Citizens Assembly on climate change, where 108 ordinary Brits […]