The twin approach of pressure on water companies and citizen science
IN THE PRESS:
There has been a huge amount of media attention directed at the issue of pollution in our rivers and seas over the last year: In the press: national news – The Sid
And much of the attention has been directed at the water companies: In the press: South West Water – The Sid
In the summer, Giles Bristow [of the Lyme Regis RNLI and formerly an environmental lawyer in the City of London] became the new CEO of Surfers Against Sewage – when he introduced the SAS real-time sewage alert map and questioned the real value of South West Water:
The morning of our interview, SAS relaunched their Safer Seas and Rivers Service app, “a tool for anyone wanting to take a dip without fear of dysentery”. Through the app you can report illness as a result of swimming, as well as notify your MP and water company with evidence of pollution. Bristow is excited about it – though the app has just told him he couldn’t swim at his local beach for the next couple of days due to discharges of sewage by South West Water.
IN THE SOUTH WEST:
Back in March, Devon Wildlife Trust’s CEO Harry Barton asked what is wrong with our rivers beyond the issue of sewage – and suggested ways forward [and the text in bold is Harry’s]:
Not a single one of our rivers in Devon comes close to achieving good ecological status – the standard set for rivers across Europe. If you want to know why, a good starting point is today’s report from the Environment Agency.
Distasteful and unpleasant as the sewage problem undoubtedly is, there are worse things happening to our rivers from the point of view of wildlife… But the biggest demon of them all is agricultural run-off.
Just as important as funding schemes is the provision of one to one advice to farmers, such as is delivered by Devon Wildlife Trust through schemes like Upstream Thinking. By creating ponds and wetlands, farmers are doing a lot more than just providing valuable habitats – they are helping slow the flow and keep water out of overloaded sewage systems.
What’s wrong with our rivers? | Devon Wildlife Trust
For an academic understanding of agricultural runoff and the release of untreated sewage – and what we can do to set things right, here is Dr Tanja Radu, senior lecturer in water engineering at Loughborough University: Instant Genius Podcast – Solving the UK’s water pollution problem, with Dr Tanja Radu | Free Listening on Podbean App
The consensus, then, seems to be that we need both pressure on the water companies – and citizen science to substantiate the claims about the pollution of our rivers.
The likes of SAS suggest just this in their report for the year: England • Surfers Against Sewage • Water Quality Report 2023
IN THE SID VALLEY:
And this is what is happening in the these parts.
Behind the scenes pressure on South West Water – largely due to Sidmouth Town Council – has resulted in a significant commitment by SWW: £1.6 billion investment brought forward to speed up vital water infrastructure projects – GOV.UK
Meanwhile, the Sid Valley Biodiversity Group’s water monitoring team is carrying out vital citizen science on the Sid and providing key information about the quality of the waters: Measuring and monitoring along the Sid – The Sid
The SVBG and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust in action: Water monitoring along the Sid: September pictures – The Sid
An excellent summary of these considerable local efforts – and hoped-for results – was provided by Ed Dolphin, writing for this blog back in April; here’s the opening and close of his very thorough piece:
The Daily Mail Online made unpleasant reading this morning with Sidmouth highlighted as among the worst five bathing beaches for sewage discharges. Many people will be aware that there is a national campaign on the issue with very prominent coverage by people such as Feargal Sharkey and the Rivers Trust, but the local situation may be a shock to some people. Local volunteers have been working for the last two years challenging South West Water and the Environment Agency over the performance of the Sidmouth system which is clearly inadequate for local needs. Their efforts are beginning to pay off but there is a long way to go.
The Sidmouth group’s work has focussed on challenging SWW and the EA and has not been publicised widely because the town does not need the kind of media attention it is receiving now. The pressure on the water company has started to bring local results and SWW is starting work soon on things that should begin to improve the local system in the next year.
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The good news for Sidmouth is that the combined efforts of local citizen scientists, the town council and the local MP have forced SWW to prioritise our system. They will be spending up to £1.3m in the next three years. The first task will be to survey the sewers to find areas where leaky pipes are allowing ground water to infiltrate in and add to the load. The worst sewers will be relined. The company will also be checking to see where rainwater is being misdirected from properties into the foul water system and these will be corrected. I have no idea how they will do that, and how we will know if it has worked. If this work does not reduce the number of spills sufficiently, SWW may seek to enlarge the storage tank under the Ham.
Let us hope the improvements have the desired effect and the system will only overflow if we have truly exceptional rain.
Sewage spill around Sidmouth’s beach: what’s it all about? – The Sid
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