Do we know true scale of pollution in English waters?

Is our bathing water more polluted than we think? We've seen documents which show that almost twice as many English bathing waters would fail pollution tests - if the regulator wasn't legally allowed to disregard some of the worst results.
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Papers and emails show Government officials were also worried about negative press and wanted pollution incidents to be "better presented". But the environment agency warned some options they gave could look like ‘greenwashing’.
The Government and the agency insist it's perfectly above board and follows scientific best practice, but campaigners want the system to change, insisting public safety should come first.
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[@ZhTra]

“more than 70% of the privatised water industry is owned by foreign investment firms, private equity, pension funds and, in some cases, businesses based in tax havens”. The water industry should be renationalised.

[@susanb4816]

Universities should be given mandate to regularly test local waters

[@clowncarqingdao]

Why Universities? They have other things to do than monitor local waters. An honest government would have a decent monitoring system.

[@hbt739]

I can tell u that in first semester biotech, chemistry, biochemestry,..... U have the modul inorganic chemistry. In this modul we litteraly went to the nearest water source and tested it for its quality. So yeah testing water is easy (at least for the nitrat and so on bacteria not so much)

[@clowncarqingdao]

@@hbt739 Basic water quality tests are often done in schools by students 16-18 but often earlier. Some of these are qualitative although most are quantitative. Water companies have scientists that do for more quantitative work including counting the number of coliforms although these take time to cultivate. Universities have other things to do than testing water which is why water companies employ scientists to do this work. Perhaps they simply need more competent scientists.

[@hbt739]

​​​@@clowncarqingdao first of what u said in the first sentence is just wrong if u go to a not a lot of money schoo Secondly not at all the point. In the first semester u always have dissosiation of salts and with ph levels, erdalkalkine in the water and general water quality were u do things like titrimetry and conductivity. Through which u can calculate the concentration of nitrat and other organical substances which donot belong there. It is incredible easy to do like u said and jet everyone from all universities (who i know) who had that modul had this because it is great for a protocol which is than halve of ur mark (their isnt much u can do wrong when u mess this but there is a lot u can speak about like influence T,p, and so on)

[@dantownsend4246]

Universities receive funding from the government. So they only want to do too much biting the hand that feeds them. Same as BBC

[@widervision710]

The standards of treating sewage before being released in to the waters has dropped significantly since the Brexit Dream......

[@nigelabishop1]

That’s the point of Brexit.

[@duncanbananatyne3890]

Brexshit.

[@PurpleMonkeyDishwasher-69]

STILL salty?! 😂Pathetic.

[@widervision710]

@@PurpleMonkeyDishwasher-69 It really is, apart from 125,000+ post Brexit rubber dinghy desirables that have cum for sovereign tea, and the ability to be able to buy a pint of wine, what else is the Brexit dream delivering?

[@Dave-Lopez]

​@@PurpleMonkeyDishwasher-69Ok buddy

[@jaydobbyn3975]

The Tories will never release the truth ever EVER!

[@Trund27]

The Tories don’t care about anything but the 1%. Cutting funds is built into all policies.

[@bettyboop0092006]

It’s the same here in the US and it’s just sad how we treat the ocean everywhere

[@Ruylopez778]

We know it's worse than we can imagine, and probably intentional illegal action, and there will be zero accountability, like every other lie and failure since 2010.

[@adamuk8199]

You wanted Brexit , less regulations etc , you got it.

[@LoneSheWolf09]

I didn’t want Brexit yet have to suck it up with those who didn’t vote for this in the first place.

[@taintedtango2737]

The seeds for this situations where sewn 50 years ago with Thatcher, It's just a funny little quirk we're facing here with the sewage in the water which is more of a symptom of the larger problem... The companies which operate these important national functions are all owned by off-shore businesses and governments - Who do you think Margaret Thatcher was selling the national assets to?! I'm sure you assumed there where British Nationals but you where wrong, I'm some cases our national power grid is partially owned by non European governments who will hold a wide range in shares. The more I learn about our History, The more I realize the previous generation literally sold the fucking boat that had been passed down for generation to generation in exchange for a single ticket for themselves onto a luxury cruise. Well the cruise is over and here we are, 50 years later down shit's creek.

[@thewillz]

what brexit, there hasn't been one, we are still under eu rule numbnuts

[@LuciThomasHardylover-qx6ts]

No! I didn't want Brexit! Just like the other half of the population! Why should we all have to suffer for the delusions of the other half.

[@johnhobbes2268]

I'm a foreigner, so I'not familiar with the regional political discussions. But how can those documents anything other than a massive national outrage?

[@clowncarqingdao]

The whole country has been run into the ground by the Conservative party. They are now a far right fascist organization that the vast majority of the country hates but they cling onto power and even now are trying to change the electoral rules to make it easier for them to get voted in again after nearly 14 years of thievery and increased inequality.

[@KlaraZoom]

It's a brexit benefit don't you know. /s

[@03olo020]

because it hasnt been this way for decades /facepalm

[@themanlikekg]

@@03olo020no, it really hasn’t

[@sphinx1017]

The government has changed things post Brexit so raw sewage can be flushed directly into the sea. Before, EU rules prevented that.

[@Damn_Cat]

A brexshit benefit, one could say

[@KlaraZoom]

@@03olo020 I see you have a short memory.

[@goatsummoner]

I wouldn't go into the water around Blackpool/Cleveleys/Fleetwood regardless of whether they put out a warning about sewage. We shouldn't be dumping raw, untreated sewage into any body of water. But companies and the government care about cost, not the safety or health of anyone around them.

[@patbertouche]

I read, some years ago, that Blackpool had spent millions on addressing the problem of sewage in the sea. Great, I thought, until I got to to the part that told that they had spent all that money on making the pipe that carries the sewage out to sea, longer! What?

[@LuciThomasHardylover-qx6ts]

In my teens you could buy a day ticket for the Butlins camp in bognor Regis. The joke being,in the 80's that on the camp perimeter with the beach was an enormous sewage pipe gushing right out into the sea right on Bognor beach. The smell was famous!

[@hypnocilicdreams]

The Environment Agency isn't fit for purpose. Action must be taken

[@triciaamheiser785]

The EU is the elephant in the room here. In the EU, zero "no swim" warnings on the British coastline... It's not hard to see what has gone on.

[@clowncarqingdao]

The EU had independent monitoring of the waters around Europe. Now it's all up to the UK and by the look of it that's a mess. The elephant in the room is Brexit and the collusion and lies of the private water companies gouging profit and the government helping them at the detriment to public health.

[@kzrlgo]

But it is hard to make out what you’re saying….

[@redalert2834]

Boris Johnson blames Europeans for the surplus sewage generated whenever Tories speak.

[@georgesos]

Brexit made it worse. In 2000 i recall that UK wasnt anywhere near what is considered "swimmable". There were beaches posing the "blue flag" even though the measurements were off the scale.

[@sampotts9666]

Enforce flow rate monitors on the sewage outlets and get them to publish the data on it per month by law.

[@hanric2000]

I’m glad the presenter is in a wetsuit. That water looks like raw sewage to me 😕

[@susanb4816]

She needs a dry suit to keep the water off her skin

[@maigepresents5840]

The UK is pretty much a dumpster fire now...

[@edmundblackaddercoc8522]

Thames water 5 billion in debt as it was, how does a water company get 5 billion in debt? Who is suditing these companies?

[@mattbrown-mb]

It's those criminally negligent Tory parasites that were in charge!

[@georgesotiriou7051]

Welcome to the UK!

[@johnsometimesoffandsometim8933]

I sailed in the Humber years ago. You should have seen What we saw Then

[@judithrevers]

Maybe look at Croatia. They have the most amazingly clean seawater today! All year around. Imho, everyone should be able to swim in the sea safely every day of the year.

[@nathaliecollier]

It took Channel 4 a while to notice this issue. Thanks for doing a documentary on a topic which is not new at all.

[@Dingbat-tb5wz]

Re-nationalise now.

[@Ia-mes_Aqrabdabra]

As a Indian living in Engeland I wanna say it a holy river like Ganges we sould thank bhayti prita nitra.

[@Setinmywaysalways]

Until there is a Pandemic through either Eating Seafood & would you Now?, or through this Bathing at Beaches.

[@_____alyptic]

We'll just forget about this come election, always happens

[@RatTerminator]

Same thing in Southern California after it rains

[@jonatkinsonriver1]

If our rivers and seas were polluted because it was an unfortunate consequence of helping people who were struggling economically then some may say it’s regrettable and yet the right choice to put the well being of the public first. But that is not what is happening. Our rivers, lakes and seas are polluted so that the already very rich people can become even more rich.

[@kevinwilliams1768]

unacceptable for a first class country .

[@maigepresents5840]

Lol.... the UK has been a sh1th0le country for a decade...

[@RankinMsP]

Not sure the UK can be called a 1st class country after 14 years of Tory mismanagement

[@kzrlgo]

So… at what point will you stop believing it’s a first class country? If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck… and you’re swimming in excrement, can’t afford to heat your home and eat, can’t see a doctor or dentist… it’s probably a duck.

[@Kurauone__]

Britain is increasingly not a first class country. And you did it to your yourselves.

[@Aunttina5868]

Why don't they sewage treatment plants.

[@helenburrows9047]

Thankyou so much for all your ha4d work. Really appreciated.

[@duncandisorderly6562]

I went sea swimming and came back with a cigar in my mouth 🤨

[@duncanbananatyne3890]

Are you sure it was a cigar?

[@duncandisorderly6562]

@@duncanbananatyne3890 a sweetcorn cigar 😄👍

[@QuestForGood]

🤣🤣

[@RocketRenton]

Exmouth is the same.

[@WhichDoctor1]

another brexit benefit, for shareholders. The government slashed environmental regulations and enforcement in the environment act 2021 as soon as they were no longer held to high environmental standards by being part of the EU. That's why this has suddenly become such a big problem in the last few years. Water companies have been underfunding and under investing since they were privatized. But since this new legislation came in its become cheaper for them to dump sewage into our waters and risk an anemic fine once in a blue moon than it is for them to spend the money on treating it. That's why these days they are dumping sewage even on days with no rainfall. Because the tories have made it so they have no reason not to

[@Mariahelena-wy6xc]

And the water bills are going up

[@edcoad4930]

Cleveleys dippers or diapers? This is the simple problem: water companies must work on a 15-year lead time for infrastructure capacity. If they've decided to not spend money for 13 years, the wheels are going to fall off like now.

[@hungbearlover]

I don’t know why we can’t plant more trees and clean up our coasts and rivers in the U.K.

[@kzrlgo]

How old are you, 8? “Plant trees”??? You think a lack of trees in the UK is the problem? Your government looks down on you and treats the common person worse than an animal. They have no shame or accountability and the populace is ignorant and motivated by hate and social media…. … but planting more trees should fix all that.

[@johnstibal2131]

It's pretty wild that Britain was once at the forefront of sewage handling infrastructure and public water treatment...and now, the British debate about bathing in poo....

[@theoriginalrecycler]

Wrong question. Should read “ how much water is in British sewage”

[@gavisvisam5442]

Poor engineering

[@ChrisKeziahHyde]

The public won't put up a fight and the government (whoever is in power) won't do anything about it.

[@paulryan1578]

Compared to the coast off Vietnam it’s low I did a trip Singapore to HongKong with stops in Vietnam ports the pollution in those waters is mammoth I live in oz (ex pat) and for that reason never buy seafood from that coastline

[@Malfoy1594]

The English waters have looked like sewage ever since I can remember them.

[@LuciThomasHardylover-qx6ts]

That's the cold! Believe me, that's different!

[@Dylanesque]

The Isle of 5.hite.

[@kzrlgo]

The Uk is going back to the 19th century. Thankfully I left that miserable island before Brexit. Good luck chaps!

[@Paul_C]

Welll, she is well isolated...

[@Silks-]

There's no way I'll go in the sea or rivers again. Too much sewage and chemicals.

[@Tashio240]

The G are in no hurry to clean this up. It is probably a further deterrent for small boats.

[@sheilas-r]

For heaven's sake, don't let them read this - or they will shoot it to the top of their excuse list!!! 😢

[@karendurham-diggins5536]

they all talk about enforcement and yet the water companies are still chucking sewage in our seas. Well done Surfers Against Sewage - more action required by us all - are we all going to stop paying the sewage part of our bill until they stop paying out dividends and pay for cleaning up their mess?

[@50_Pence]

They should just reduce your water bill as an apology 😂

[@mattbrown-mb]

They want to increase bills.. to pay for repairing the system, having taken £50 billion in profits since privatisation - parasites!

[@techtinkerin]

Oh i dont like to be besides the seaside..

[@miketgl4543]

Plenty of Sovereignty though guys.

[@paulcoverdale8312]

Simple answer? NO! But the water co,s have been doing it for yrs! This is not anything new.

[@hannahlou3406]

Privatisation going swimmingly I see....

[@whymustisignin4this]

I did not receive the correspondence that your FOI suggests was sent to my office ... what??? you can't just dismiss evidence turned up by an FOI like that.

[@madmesmith5187]

Money Junkies don't care....Where is Our Justice System ?

[@cmsacademy1673]

You gotta be mad to swim in a British beach. Disgusting

[@maigepresents5840]

Oh and don't forget your table fish live in this stuff...

[@duderRechthat]

England... you're doing ok over there?

[@dalerichardson7977]

This was never a problem before we had proper sanitation but I'm sure more people died of disease then.

[@markwilkie3677]

The bubonic plague is a good example of what happens without proper sanitation.

[@catdog7497]

we don’t want to swim with poo

[@Ia-mes_Aqrabdabra]

We Indians even drink out holy rivers.

[@LuciThomasHardylover-qx6ts]

Just like when I was a child... living under a Tory government that went on and on and on. It was Europe who forced them kicking and screaming to clean up the waterways and beaches. Decades later here we are again! As though it never happened.🤷

[@hbt739]

And again they fix the wording not the problem

[@martinrobinson9061]

Raw Troy sewage.

[@martinrobinson9061]

I would never swim in UK rivers, lakes and seas.

[@Th3_Gael]

Wonder if it has anything to do with overrun facilities and overcrowding

[@longstrobe2547]

Or simply incompetent government that gives favourable contracts to private companies that don't really follow the regulations. But hey it's easier to make up excuses than to just face the truth.

[@Ia-mes_Aqrabdabra]

Indian terravorming.

[@SabirShah-gy2pn]

Nice news 🗞️🗞️

[@stuartashbourne-martin9629]

Perhaps if the Tory government stopped talking a lot of poo then some of it might disappear from the sea😮

[@RankinMsP]

Another Brexit benefit eh? Smh Therese Coffey is sewage in human form.

[@DoctorBastard]

This septic isle... Poisoned by tory greed.

[@Gert-DK]

Believe it or not, it is a Brexit benefit.

[@kp6215]

You get what you pay period. Nothing is free.

[@intouchdm]

It’s just so fucking wrong!

[@ibidi9710]

STOP PAYING TOUR WATER BILLS. NOW! YOU ARE ONLY ENCOURAGING AND REWARDING, VERY BAD BEHAVIOUR!!

[@GrettaLogue]

The water is brown.

[@user-fe1gb9uc1t]

when waves come into a bay or beach where there is sediment, the waves bring the sediment up.. there is a difference between clean, brown water and sewage

[@conred6635]

Our coasts are kinda nasty I mean look at the colour I wouldn't swim in that 😂

[@WarblesOnALot]

G'day, Hey Pommies...! Are you Getting pissed-off Swimming in Pooh ? Come over to Oz Swim at Kakadu, Where the Crocodiles Will cheerfully eat YOU Which is much worse than Pooh...! Just(ifiably ?) sayin', Take it easy... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !

[@seanmallis8391]

So basically, sweep it under the rug . Lol 🤣🤣🤣 shiiiiieeeelllldddddd

[@DJWESG1]

'We know there is 5hit in the water, so we will swim in the water to prove a point' - attention seeker

[@catdog7497]

it’s no wonder the sun never shines in the UK 😂 all the water is so full of poo that when it evaporates into the atmosphere the sun rays can’t even shine through those clouds of poo. Talk about ‘acid rain’ 🤣

[@You-are-right-but]

Yay Brexit!

[@blessingndlovu9037]

The shitty side, excuse the pun, of Western nations that we seldom get to see

[@catdog7497]

Hasn’t britain always had sewage problems? Like even dating back to the 1800s, they dug canals for the sewage to flow to the sea, and then were bathing and washing their clothes in the sea? lol yuck

[@markwilkie3677]

England is the problem. The other nations on this island weren't so stupid as to privatise their water network.

[@XxTheAwokenOnexX]

Forgive the pun, but It is another 💩 show

[@carlosifer]

The UK really is a dump 😂 Welcome to Brexit UK

[@GuyverFrancis-jh6lm]

Do we know thr full scale of islamisation. Or migrants . That's more important

[@Jamesyahyah]

Most of the worlds sewerage washes up on the channel coast then we treat it better than our own citizens

[@ab8865]

Vote tory this is what you get

[@TrapaniSicilia]

Well as the old saying goes vote the Tory con party get poo

[@secondchance6603]

If only they could stop all the filth and garbage that arrives via all the dinghies.

[@maigepresents5840]

Ah the UK... fast turning into the shti-show we all knew you were...

[@williamwade641]

A Brexit benefit, freedom to pump sewage into rivers, lakes and sea.

[@spudspuddy]

its polluted with thousands on rubber dingys and the sewage in them

[@kevinf6927]

That's a good way to stop the boats😀

[@damienmorrison7226]

Is your mum in one of those dingys

[@macieksuwala2538]

Swimming is one thing,fish and chips nations favourite is another 😂