'We should be treasuring these rivers': Feargal Sharkey calls on water companies to step up as he tests River Wylye
29 November 2024, 07:39 | Updated: 29 November 2024, 08:39
Feargal Sharkey tests the River Wylye
Testing conducted by LBC on the River Wylye has revealed the shocking state of Britain’s water industry with a number of environmental targets being repeatedly missed.
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In the latest edition of Feargal on Friday, Feargal Sharkey, the former Undertones frontman and environmental campaigner, travelled to the Wiltshire countryside to test part of the five chalk streams that make up the Hampshire-Avon catchment.
The whole area, including the River Wylye, has been designated as a special area of conservation.
It was previously a popular spot for fly fishing with crystal clear water flowing over gravel.
LBC can, however, reveal the true extent of the Wylye’s decline following an extensive investigation into the river’s water quality.
The nitrate test - a key indicator of pollution in a river - generated a reading of 20 parts per million.
That is four times above the threshold of what is deemed ‘excessive’ by the Water Quality Monitoring Network.
Read more: UK's biggest water company fails three environmental tests carried out by Feargal Sharkey and LBC
Meanwhile, phosphate levels in the Wylye came in at 0.97 parts per million - three times over the upper limit defined by the Water Framework Directive
High levels of phosphates in rivers can be toxic for humans and lethal for animals.
It can cause a significant number of fish deaths because of how it reduces the available oxygen in the ecosystem
Testing carried out by Simplex Health on behalf of LBC showed the presence of E Coli in the River Test was over 20 times the level at which the Environment Agency (EA) considers a river to be “poor quality bathing water”.
This reading came in at 18500 colony forming units per 100ml - one of the highest recorded since the start of Feargal on Friday.
E Coli can cause diarrhoea, severe stomach cramps, vomiting and can be deadly in extreme cases.
Following the results, Feargal took aim at Wessex Water - the company responsible for repeated sewage spills in the River Wylye - and the wider industry.
“I care about these rivers. We should be treasuring, protecting, nurturing these rivers. Since privatisation, water companies have been criminally found guilty on over 1102 occasions.
“We have a system that is dysfunctional, that has been driven by greed”, he told LBC.
Earlier this month, Wessex Water was fined £500,000 for polluting two rivers and killing thousands of fish.
The company admitted a series of failures which led to untreated sewage being discharged into the rivers in Wiltshire and North Somerset in 2018.
In response to LBC’s investigation, a Wessex Water spokesperson said: “There have been no storm overflow discharges where these tests were carried out since May, so any suggestion that the bacteria came from ‘raw sewage’ is categorically wrong.
“Indeed, our environmental impact on the Wylye – a rural catchment where water quality is affected by wildlife, agricultural run-off and other factors – is minimal. Lowland rivers have always and will always have bacteria in them.
“Licensed storm overflows operate to protect properties from flooding and discharge mostly rainwater, but we’re spending £3 million every month on schemes to reduce how often this happens and have invested in nature-based solutions like reed beds and wetlands to further protect waterways near Salisbury.
“This investment will more than double from 2025, if approved by Ofwat. More widely, we believe rain should be valued as a resource and used and returned to the environment close to where it falls.
“Alongside our ongoing work, this requires the political understanding and will to bring forward policies that that promote best practice in rainwater management at source.”
