We need your help, right now, to rescue our damaged and polluted rivers, to restore them as vital, thriving habitats and as enjoyable and safe places where we can spend our time.
What’s the problem?
The problems facing our rivers can be grouped into three categories:
Habitat Destruction
Over time, we have altered our rivers to accommodate our needs for transport, industries and urban environments, by creating barriers such as weirs, locks, dams and culverts. This has resulted in biodiversity loss and damage to the ecosystem.
Water Quality
The latest pollution assessments across England’s rivers show that no single stretch of river is in good overall health. The overwhelming majority – 85% of river stretches – fail to meet good ecological standards. In September 2024, Hertfordshire was ranked in the bottom three counties in England with only 10% of its freshwater rated as Acceptable. The poor state of many waterbodies in the UK is the result of a variety of sources ofpollution, including sewage discharge, agriculture and urban run-off. Furthermore, there is currently a lack of reliable systems of monitoring river water quality and ecosystems. There is also poor enforcement and regulation of those organisations whose activities affect river water quality. In many places, citizen scientists have had to step in to do water quality monitoring, where official action is lacking.
Water Quantity
We may think that the Earth has an abundance of water, but only 3% is fresh water, with only 1% of that available for human use. We continue to take too much water from our rivers (over-abstraction). If consumption continues at current rates, there is a danger of demand exceeding supply in a decade. Climate change is also a problem for our rivers. The Met Office predicts more heavy rainfall in winter, and rising temperatures with droughts in summer, which puts huge stresses on our rivers, affecting both water quantity and quality.
Water Quality – What’s in our waterways?
Urban wastewater – sewage – is a mix of domestic wastewater from toilets, baths, sinks and washing machines, wastewater from industry, and rainwater run-off from roads and other hard surfaces. Every day in the UK, 347,000 kms of sewers collect over 11 billion litres of wastewater which is treated at about 9,000 sewage treatment works before being discharged to inland waters, estuaries and the sea (Sewage Treatment in the UK: UK Implementation of the EC Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, DEFRA, 2000).
Visible and invisible pollution
- While some forms of pollution are visible and obvious, like plastic litter, some are not visible. Even the clearest rivers can contain pollutants and pathogens from sewage discharges, agricultural and urban run-off and many other sources.
- Some of these pollutants are persistent and accumulate to toxic levels in ecosystems. ” Road run-off contains oils, diesel & petrol spills, and heavy metals from worn tyres and roads. Lead, zinc, copper and aluminum from motor vehicles are toxic to river wildlife.
- Excess nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) from many sources, especially agriculture, encourage the overgrowth of algae, which deplete the river of oxygen, so that it cannot support wildlife; a process called eutrophication.
- Even after sewage treatment, some chemicals from our medicines, pesticides, cleaning products and even nicotine and caffeine remain and return to our rivers.
Overwhelmed sewage systems
Much of Britain’s sewage systems are designed so that rainwater is merged with our waste water. When there is heavy rainfall, the combined volume is too much for the sewage works’ capacity. Combined Sewer Overflows, which bypass the treatment works, discharge this untreated sewage directly into rivers, to prevent it backing up into our homes or onto the streets. But even without heavy rainfall, untreated sewage is still discharged in this way at some locations. For example, Markyate’s Sewage Treatment Works has been continuously discharging untreated sewage into the River Ver for over 3,000 hours since December 2024.
Water Quantity – Our water usage
- In the UK, every person uses on average about 150 litres of water a day, a figure that has been growing every year by 1% since 1930.
- Only a small fraction of this water is sourced from reservoirs. Most is pumped from aquifers below ground or taken from rivers and lakes, resulting in rivers that are drained of the water they need to stay healthy. Over 28 million litres of water a day for local consumption are pumped out of deep boreholes in the chalk aquifer of the River Ver.
- Leakages are a major problem. Currently about a fifth of the fresh water supplied to the public is lost through leaks in pipes. Some of this is from misconnected domestic pipes, but the vast majority is from the public pipework system.
What can I do?
There are many ways to support you can support our rivers!
Practical things you can do…
Reduce your ‘Water Footprint’: Saving water is essential to ensure there’s enough for everyone now and in the future. These guides offer suggestions for saving water in your home and garden, and tips on making water-conscious food and fashion choices:
www.affinitywater.co.uk/how-to-guides
www.waterwise.org.uk/how-to-save-water/
www.friendsoftheearth.uk/sustainable-living/13-best-ways-save-water
Only the three Ps: Only pee, poo and (toilet) paper should be flushed down your toilet.
Prevent ‘Fatbergs’: Don’t put oil and fat down your sink, as these can cause severe blockages in the sewage system.
Choose household and garden products wisely: Avoid products labelled ‘hazardous to aquatic life’. Choose products that are kinder to our waterways, e.g. at Big Green Smile, www.biggreensmile.com
Make it porous! Reduce areas of impermeable hard paving and artificial grass outside your home, so that rain water can drain into the ground, rather than into the storm drains (surface water sewers). These can become overwhelmed during heavy rainfall and cause untreated sewage to be discharged directly into rivers.
Check for misconnections: Check all your waste connections from toilets, dishwashers, washing machines and other appliances are connected to the sewage treatment system and not to the storm drains. If you’re not sure, check this useful guide or contact your water company. http://www.connectright.org.uk/misconnections
Get involved!
Support your local conservation group – learn about your local river, join riverbank working parties & litter picks, and monitor water quality as part of the citizen science monitoring programme.
Ver Valley Society www.riverver.co.uk
Batford Springs Volunteers https://www.facebook.com/BatfordSpringsVolunteers
Mimram Support Group www.riverleacatchment.org.uk/index.php/river-mimramhome.
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust are currently focussing on Connecting Communities with our Chalk Streams. www.hertswildlifetrust.org.uk
Thames21 work with communities to restore and look after rivers, water and nature across London and the Thames Basin. www.thames21.org.uk
Support national organisations
RiverActionUK’s River Rescue Kit outlines a variety of ways you can help rescue our rivers: www.kit.riveractionuk.com/river-rescue-kit
The Rivers Trust is an umbrella organisation for 65 local river trusts across Britain, N.
Ireland and Ireland: www.theriverstrust.org Find your local trust.
Take part in The Big River Watch – a twice-yearly event run by The Rivers Trust:
https://theriverstrust.org/take-action/the-big-river-watch
Join The Great UK WaterBlitz – UK’s biggest citizen science water testing event run in April & September https://earthwatch.org.uk/greatukwaterblitz
The World Wildlife Fund support our rivers and oceans, and also have a project for the UK’s chalk streams. www.wwf.org.uk/where-we-work/uk-rivers-and-chalk-streams
Make your views known!
Email the Environment Agency (EA) enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk and demand immediate action. Be sure to copy in your local MP (e.g. Victoria Collins victoria.collins.mp@parliament.uk, or Daisy Cooper daisy.cooper.mp@parliament.uk). All emails are logged by the EA. Your responses do make a difference!
Further resources
The Rivers Trust’s State of Our Rivers Report explains clearly the threats and pressures on our rivers, and how you can take action to make a difference. It’s recommended reading for everyone! www.theriverstrust.org/rivers-report-2024
Thames21 have some great online information explaining how water systems work:
www.thames21.org.uk/combined-sewer-systems
www.thames21.org.uk/seperate-sewer-systems
The results of last September’s Great UK WaterBlitz contains statistics from 2338 data sets in the UK over 4 days.
https://earthwatch.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Great-UK-WaterBlitz-report-Sept24_WEB.pdf
A graphic view of the sewage being discharged in real time: www.sewagemap.co.uk/
The index of English Chalk Streams – Charles Rangeley-Wilson:
www.chalkstreams.org/2020/10/28/the-index-of-english-chalk-streams
Data analysis of sewage pollution in our rivers and streams, on our beaches, by constituency, by the water industry: www.top-of-the-poops.org
Safer Seas & Rivers Service (SSRS) This App shows you when to catch your waves, where to park your windbreak, and keeps you updated on sewage discharges.
Background and action points from the Chalk Stream Conference held at Cambridge University in March 2023: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/saving-englands-chalk-streams
Sustainable St Albans A local charity whose mission is to create an environmentally sustainable place to live. www.sustainablestalbans.org
Bannatyne, L., Loiselle, S., Simmonds, K., & Woods, S. (2024). The Great UKWaterBlitz September 2024. Earthwatch Europe.