One of the UK’s biggest dairy firms has been fined £1.5m for repeatedly polluting a river near its Cornwall factory and causing local residents to suffer years of noxious smells – but the problems are continuing, the Guardian reports. Dairy Crest was sentenced at Truro crown court for repeatedly breaching its environmental permit at Davidstow creamery in […]
Hundreds of Belfast homes will be tested for lead contamination after an earlier study found elevated levels of the dangerous metal in drinking water. A small study by Queen’s University researchers found that 15% of the samples collected exceeded the standard UK limit for lead levels in water. The study also found at least some […]
A water monitoring system developed in a collaboration between University of Birmingham researchers and Proteus Instruments, that remotely measures the quality of water in rivers, lakes and reservoirs, has resulted in a Queens Award for Enterprise (Innovation) for the company. The technology resulted from a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with researchers Kieran Khamis, Chris Bradley and David Hannah from […]
Enhanced by citizen science data, the Environment Agency is using water quality monitoring activity to prioritise how and where to tackle phosphate pollution on the River Wye. A press release from the Environment Agency states: ‘The Wye catchment is an iconic location and hugely important for biodiversity, principally due to the wide range of rare […]
A report from lawyers Leigh Day and the Guardian have covered the news that Wild Justice files legal claim over Ofwat’s failure to step in and prevent discharges of untreated sewage into rivers. Wild Justice has stepped up a legal campaign against Ofwat for failing to ensure sewage treatment plants are fit for purpose with […]
The Environment Agency and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have worked together on the ‘Wild Wiske Revival: Clean and Green’ project over the last three years. New wetland habitat, reduced pollution and a restored river bank are just some of the enhancements made in a three-year £230,000 project to improve water quality in a North Yorkshire River. […]
Demonstrating a welcome shift in attitude from the Government on water quality, Ministers have agreed with the majority of the recommendations in the Environmental Audit Committee report, Water quality in rivers. Read the Government Response Read the Report: Water Quality in Rivers Inquiry: Water Quality in Rivers Environmental Audit Committee The Government and the water […]
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 […]