The Environment Agency has launched a new crowd reporter website to enable Severn Valley residents to share details of flooding in their communities. The Severn Valley Water Management Scheme (SVWMS) Crowd Reporter is a crowd-sourced mapping tool which can be used to submit descriptions and pictures of localised flooding. Residents are encouraged to use the […]
Common medications, as well as illegal drugs, released into the environment can damage ecosystems and interfere with the growth and behaviour of animals and plants. The medicines that make us well are having untold impacts on nature, says a news piece from the Natural History Museum. After entering the water through sewage systems, rainwater runoff and factory discharges, […]
The Our Phosphorus Future report is the most comprehensive global analysis of the challenges and possible solutions to the phosphorus crisis to date. It has been written by a team of 40 international experts from 17 countries led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and the University of Edinburgh and is supported by the […]
Environment Agency experts investigating reports of fish deaths in a Northumberland river believe a natural fungal infection to be the cause. A small number of dead and dying salmon and sea trout were first reported in the lower Coquet in the Warkworth and Felton areas. These fish all showed signs of fungal infections. Reports have […]
The Guardian has reported that guidance that would have allowed farmers to spread manures and slurry on land in a way that would overload it with nutrients and risk pollution of rivers, lakes and coastal waters has been changed by Defra, after a challenge over its lawfulness. Manures, which include sewage sludge, abattoir waste and […]
CIWEM release new report: River water quality and storm overflows – A systems-approach to maximising improvement Storm overflows from combined sewers and wastewater treatment works are currently discharging in thousands of locations and for millions of hours each year. Impacts on amenity and nature are unacceptable and solutions are needed. The reasons for this situation […]
As covered last week, thousands of people took part in the first National Day of Action on Water Quality on Saturday 23 April, a mass protest over water firms dumping sewage in rivers. Ocean conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) joined forces with clean water campaign groups to organise simultaneous protests against water companies from Scotland to […]
Microplastics found in human blood for first time Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the people tested, the Guardian has reported. The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on […]