How toxic are Britain's rivers? Feargal Sharkey tests the River Avon with LBC

[@jaida9254]

Absolutely outrageous. Great piece by Fergal Sharkey. Please do not drop this story. It is heartbreaking to see the damage we are causing to the planet because of greed. The EA should be disbanded!

[@markmonaghan2309]

EA should be run properly.

[@jaida9254]

@@markmonaghan2309 it clearly isn't fit for purpose. it needs to be disbanded and replaced with a committee of experts who oversee this function. I will never trust the EA again. How have they let our rivers get to this point?

[@Simply1ism]

The Water framework directive is being rewritten if you're interested.

[@timwannell6477]

We’re not destroying the planet. We’re doing better than we ever have in positive efforts. If you have any alternatives to survive 8 billion people…let us know!

[@MikeLawtonUK]

@@timwannell6477I think you might be missing the concept of unsustainable population growth. Sheer number of people alive currently is not a reflection of the sustainability of the situation nor a reflection of health (of the population or its environment). We now have - for the first time - a drop in the age at death in certain parts of the Western world. The quality of life and health of environment are better metrics the sheer number of people drawing breath.

[@ericaceous1652]

The state of our rivers is outrageous, and I'm glad Feargal is using his influence to try and bring positive change. I hope he hits up somewhere in Derbyshire - would be very interested to know how these waterways are doing.

[@christhomson8924]

Who cares? This stuff shouldn’t bother you

[@ericaceous1652]

@@christhomson8924 ok bot

[@IanMcfadyen-d9t]

Recently the Guardian reported that the brook running through Tideswell Dale, Derbyshire (feeds River Wye) has been tested and is the second most polluted water course in UK.

[@philbraithwaite1316]

Should be on the prime time evening news.

[@Vegan_Photographs]

Farming animals is the biggest issue… but most people will not stop, you’ve all ruined nature in England!!!

[@christopheredginton6242]

Fergal, you are a bigger star now than you ever were as a pop star. You are an environmental superstar. Keep up the pressure and the amazing work. We are all with you on this one!!!!

[@bnchand1]

Thank you for doing this. It was actually Mr Sharkey that educated me about this very thing around 2-3 years ago, i have since been spreading the word with anyone i meet when the conversation goes that way. Lets hope that something can be done to bring our rivers back to place of health!

[@KiNiNjAzZ]

Fergal is a legend. Hopefully, bringing this to light facilitates the change needed. We in Australia are experiencing the same issue. We need a Fergal to bring this dire situation to the people

[@alangoodlad6869]

Fergal you’re a great man for doing this a lot of effort and I applaud you for it sir

[@solariss452]

I was poisoned by a sewage spill in the River Avon at Stratford on Avon about 2 years ago. I was very ill for 4 days and it took me a month to recover. Although I reported it to the Authorities, there was zero interest. If I ever meet a Water Company Executive, I'll give them a 4 day break from work that will take them a month to get over.

[@MidlandsAviation]

I got campylobactor from kayaking the Stratford River Avon up to Alveston weir a few years ago emailed Stratfords MP heard nothing back

[@solariss452]

@@MidlandsAviation Thanks for sharing that MA. I have the (YT will delete app) that warns about water quality and I'm the pub bore with it. I tell literally everyone I meet about the filthy UK and the thieving by the water company executives.

[@mattgoodchild8215]

Feargal Is the Man 👍🏼 He’s been on about this for years

[@bumberClart1000]

Well done man! Doing the job of the incompetent water authorities. Let’s take them all to court

[@tomgarrett7567]

Nice to see a celebrity actually doing something rather than pointless virtue signalling

[@steveday4797]

Nice one Feargal sadly i don't think our waterways are being chocked and poisoned slowly anymore. Its turbocharged 😢

[@tazpiramine2699]

We’re not doing nothing! Arrest the water companies!!!!

[@bumberClart1000]

Coverup

[@happyslappy5203]

Water firms’ profits in England and Wales almost double since 2019. Severn Trent boss paid £3.2m, including a £584,000 bonus, meanwhile firm dumped 260m litres of sewage into River Trent. « Figures revealed in November showed that Thames Water has pumped 72 billion litres of untreated sewage into the Thames. » bracknellnews (72 bn litres = 72 mn tonnes)

[@jimmyviaductophilelawley5587]

I went to school in Bath, at a place called Warleigh. Our school was bordered by the River Avon and we went swimming in it 3 times. All 3 times at least half of us got sick after swimming in the river. That was the 1980s I dread to think what it's like now.

[@elainedaprano9130]

A place like Bath must create enormous amounts of sewage😢

[@jimmyviaductophilelawley5587]

@@elainedaprano9130 this was seven miles before Bath on the river so before the city added to the pollution

[@AcidTestKids]

"When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money."

[@mattwright2964]

Spot on.

[@AcidTestKids]

@@mattwright2964 its a proverb from the Cree Nation of native americans.

[@brianferguson7840]

Is there "anything" that has not been sold, ruined, or stolen by the Tories in the whole of the country 🤔

[@steveknott5873]

The Savoy is doing quite well

[@carolwaller9605]

What hasn’t been stolen by the conservatives is now being stolen by Labour, brazenly..

[@Brian-om2hh]

If there is, the present government will find it and do their bit.....

[@grahamsmith2022]

​@@Brian-om2hhkeep drinking that Tory Kool-aid.

[@robertpatrick3350]

All the major parties are to blame, they’ve all held power over the decades, labour’s failure to act when in power makes them culpable……

[@mickyg6981]

Another privatisation disaster, the scale of what goes on would shock even Feargal, i have to work at plants regularly.

[@Skygrey2943]

Has privatisation ever made anything more efficient and cheaper?

[@RoofLight00]

@@Skygrey2943 It’s made loads of money for shareholders at the public’s expense.

[@mickyg6981]

@@Skygrey2943 Nope, they take tax payers money by the ton still and we get nothing back, it is a monopoly and only the spivs benefit while they pollute every river and beach, Railways a disaster, energy a disaster, post office etc etc

[@happyslappy5203]

Not a " privatisation disaster", only a Tory disaster: *October 2021* Tory MPs vote to ditch EU clean waters law, the bill, intended to revamp the UK’s environmental regulations post Brexit, allows raw sewage to be discharged into the country’s waterways. Just 22 Conservatives rebelled against the Government.

[@veganbarnsley15]

@@happyslappy5203 Never forget what the Tories have done to this country yet nearly 1 in 4 people who could be bothered to vote, did so for them. There are a lot of people in this country who don’t care for anything other than themselves.

[@ebutuoyYT]

Make the senior executives and major shareholders of the water companies swim in these rivers, that they claim are clean enough, make them bring their family along, for a jolly nice day out.

[@jameshodgkins559]

They need to be dragged into court & stripped of there assets . There’s a lot of people in prison right now who committed a lot less then these greedy money hovering barstad$

[@rorekel]

Please don’t fall silent on this issue 🙏

[@paulgibbons2320]

Nobody voted to damage our rivers, and nobody is offering to clean them up. So politics can't get us out of this mess. There is no consiquences to those who damage our rivers. This should be a first duty of MP's. They should have a 'Duty of Care' to our rivers and environment.

[@luminousfractal420]

here in puerto rico we have a monopolistic electricity company, luma, many have been without power for years, no investment in infrastructure for 50years. its falling apart, and they just doubled the bill for profit. next month nobody is paying the bill, nationally. we will see how many hits it takes. community organization using things like facebook does it.

[@paulgibbons2320]

@luminousfractal420 More power to you. In the UK the energy companies have been given taxpayers money to build wind farms. So they are now getting 40% of the energy supply for free. But energy bills keep going up. Nobody is even questioning it. It's all a rich mans trick.

[@paulgibbons2320]

@luminousfractal420 my response to you was too truthful and rejected by the censorship mafia.

[@philipashley1517]

This man has done more about pollution than any other,well done👍👍

[@markwilkie3677]

I`m in Scotland and a keen fisher. It breaks my heart to see England's rivers in this state.

[@keithmarshall7715]

And the introduction of all these CAZ just to show the government is onto the problem

[@johnsmith-px1sr]

So am I and the Bristol Avon fishing is better than its ever been

[@richardsanders.4624]

If you think that's bad. Try the River Uck in Sussex. The clue is in the name "UCK" it's a open sewer.

[@kellymckeever.6]

Government needs to take action now

[@buzx1313]

And there's the problem

[@suatchaglan7446]

Government allows for this to happen -_- were cattle to them… they couldn’t care less!

[@Jetstream-b5n]

People saying this needs their heads wobbled FFS they are complicit 🙄

[@MidlandsAviation]

They are as much use as the regulator

[@amberrichards8078]

Thank you Fergal Sharkey for being brave and speaking up.

[@anugranmathimugan2778]

Never ever would I have thought this would happen to the English countryside which is amongst the most pretty landscapes I have ever seen .

[@Alvarius_official]

If you fly tip you break the law.. Why are the water companies not being heavily scrutinized and fined

[@lovedaybebe5881]

Thank you for shining a light on this ! It is a disgrace !

[@rhanraads5686]

Feargal Sharkey, the Alan Bates of our waterways, thank you Sir! 👍

[@LB-W]

Fergal show people were to purchase the test kits. Let’s get everyone sending in monthly test results to their MP’s in every county

[@helendancelot]

We need a nationwide water testing movement

[@WoodFarm-u9o]

There is one. Anglers Trust

[@listairgin]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention Feargal . It’s absolutely disgusting and outrageous that our precious rivers have that level of pollution in them.

[@seansersmylie]

The local river running through my city in the north of Ireland is completely dead. It's been reduced to brown grey sludge.

[@suatchaglan7446]

Truly a travesty :( it’s disgusting that these things aren’t preserved by the ppl with v power to do so. Twisted wicked world

[@happyslappy5203]

@@suatchaglan7446 Twisted wicked world? Not everywhere, only in Tory land : *October 2021* Tory MPs voted to ditch EU clean waters law, the bill, intended to revamp the UK’s environmental regulations post Brexit, allowed raw sewage to be discharged into the country’s waterways. Just 22 Conservatives rebelled against the Government.

[@suatchaglan7446]

@@happyslappy5203 open your eyes brother!!! This is happening worldwide from Europe to America to Asia to Australia… don’t be foolish, the exploitation of the Mother Earth is widespread!

[@suatchaglan7446]

@@happyslappy5203 why reply when your comment gets disappeared lol

[@Kielbasa_Starmer]

Don't feel bad for withholding payments to the water company since 2020 now

[@Human_Herbivore]

Nitrates are used in food like ham, and are a known carcinogen. Ham isn't naturally pink, nitrates make it so.

[@fintamaria2429]

I hope those who made millions of profits will pay😢😢😢

[@happyslappy5203]

Nope. Water firms’ profits in England and Wales almost double since 2019. Severn Trent boss paid £3.2m, including a £584,000 bonus, meanwhile firm dumped 260m litres of sewage into River Trent.

[@dog_chasing_cars7576]

nope, already spent on yachts and in the caymans!

[@davetekannon]

This is a great, great challenge and why not have cleaning up the River Avon as a goal for The United Kingdom? Why not have a River Avon Minister appointed whose one and only task will be to have the River Avon cleaned up and become a symbol of pride for all British people? This is doable and a job that people will cherish as a memorable experience and those that participate will always know that they have done something that matters.

[@kieronparr3403]

Why only the Avon? Let me guess, the Avon is close to you

[@Wayne-wv8us]

This country needs people like Fergal in government

[@tonyallen1953]

Keep it going Feargal every fisherman is with you.

[@ScruffyTubbles]

"Do the Environment 'Agencies' job for them. " Exactly Fergal. And I think that the three senior Executives received £250k each (that is open emoluments), and the benefits to working in the organisation is the ease of getting sick pay and flexible working. Nothing wrong with the latter but you would expect some policing achievements to their name.

[@mattwright2964]

Thanks for doing this. Fishermen have been warning for many decades about this. Our rivers and lakes are being killed off. Fly life has almost gone compared to what it used to be - what fish and birds eat. Our land is treated as an intensive chemical factory with the effuent poured into every drain and stream.

[@dogblessamerica]

I remember in the early 2000s the improving state of Britain's rivers was a big success story, with salmon and otters returning to Midlands rivers after centuries of absence. It feels like we threw the lever into reverse about ten years ago.

[@happyslappy5203]

UK in the 70s: « Huge sections of the UK coastline were too polluted for swimming until European legal action forced the government to clean up. The British government tried to claim that the beaches of Brighton, Blackpool, Skegness and many other resorts weren’t used for bathing, to avoid dealing with the sewage, condoms and tampons that polluted them »

[@happyslappy5203]

*October 2021* Tory MPs vote to ditch EU clean waters law, the bill, intended to revamp the UK’s environmental regulations post Brexit, allows raw sewage to be discharged into the country’s waterways. Just 22 Conservatives rebelled against the Government.

[@mattwright2964]

The problem is that the very worst rivers were begun to be cleaned up but all the other, once pristine rivers, were allowed to decline. This was largely because agriculture was industrialised.

[@tobyjackson9906]

Feargal please come and take some samples of the river Windrush in Witney 😢

[@bierfuerall]

3 out of 4 fails, but 100% win for the shareholders

[@horrovac]

In Austria, almost all lakes and rivers have drinking water quality. I wouldn't drink it directly, because there can always be contaminants or nasty biota locally, but when I go swimming (in lake Attersee mostly), I take my filter bottle along - after all, it's standing water. When cycling, I have often filled my bottles from rivers. Some of them are so clear you can see the river bed in several metres' depth. Most water supplies use natural water sources without treatment. Water supply and waste water treatment is done by local councils or companies owned by the councils. It is doable. It's not rocket science. It's not expensive. You just need an entity that is tasked with providing quality service, instead of making profits.

[@ecaeas4439]

Nobody cares about what is happening in Austria. We're talking about the UK. We need solutions for what is happening in the UK.

[@williamhalliday617]

Absolutely brilliant stuff. But a deeply sad subject,having messed around with water and its environment since a toddler. Thankyou for highlighting this.

[@Tuberuser187]

We are also destroying one of the rarest habitats in Europe, the Chalk Rivers with his kind of pollution.

[@Human_Herbivore]

Algi blooms in rivers are, more often than not, a result of run off from animal farms. Remember, when Fergal talks of human waste, the same stuff comes from over one billion animals farmed in the UK.

[@andrewtrip8617]

Nah disinformation,many of the most polluted waterways have an arable catchment area .nitrogen and phosphate are arable fertilisers .And surprise surprise they run off arable land in higher concentrations than from grass lands which retain their fertility .

[@veganbarnsley15]

Go vegan for the planet before it is too late.

[@johnycarper1]

Well done Feargal you are a great campaigner for our rivers and our fishing, the water boards are a disgrace and need to be totally brought to task.

[@LANDSEAAIRCANADA]

Vital information, this is an issue in many countries including here in Canada Thank you for this important post.

[@PhilipLoughlin-z1m]

Well done fergal 👍❤️

[@SheilaCrosby]

What would astound me at this point would be to hear that the Severn has clean water.

[@annetteshawunstoppableyou5281]

Thank you for pointing this out, Fergal! The water companies have a lot to answer for, as do successive governments and water company senior execs! I am disgusted!

[@iainmcarthur1338]

brilliant stuff feargal

[@nickparr2600]

Just this week all fish in my local river nene (stanground)have been slaughtered.ive fished there for 50 years,its gutting to see.

[@MarjorieStoker-oj8fh]

Brilliant you are a credit to the cause thank you

[@sampotts9666]

Waste is just a resource we've grown ignorant of it's value.

[@buzx1313]

Thank you Thatcher 😡

[@happyslappy5203]

Nope, not Thatcher’s fault, only today's Tories: *October 2021* Tory MPs vote to ditch EU clean waters law, the bill, intended to revamp the UK’s environmental regulations post Brexit, allows raw sewage to be discharged into the country’s waterways. Just 22 Conservatives rebelled against the Government.

[@gamewithadam7235]

I remember before the 2016 olympics in Rio, how the water was so infected that 1 tablespoon had all this and that. Imagine we have something similar here. What a disgrace. Clean air and water shouldn't be rocket science. It's natural. Shouldn't cost a thing.

[@grahampestridge4368]

Well done our rivers need to be clean.

[@Human_Herbivore]

Human sewage in our waterways is a disgrace but the reality is, animal agriculture has been doing the same for decades. All these things tested for are in the bodies of farmed animals.

[@OldNavajoTricks]

A clean drink these days is hard to find, a pure water, the thirstquenching kind...

[@jerzyt9942]

A clean river these days is hard to find...

[@ThaUnseenTruth]

If we fall short on our bill payments, we face court - yet, individuals can fleece water companies of millions of pounds in bonuses, which impedes the abillity to clean the very water they are charged with cleaning, and are profiteering from having not cleaned...

[@Brian-om2hh]

Feargal Sharkey has been in Windermere a few times, raising the issue of waste sewage being pumped into the Lake by the local water Company, United Utilities. Hats off to him, as he's really getting his teeth into this, as are several other well known personalities now.... For pity's sake, the Lake District is now a World Heritage Site.....no sewage ought to be pumped into the Lake. United Utilities have been fined more than once for allowing toxic waste to enter rivers and streams in Cumbria. I this government had any nouse at all, they'd appoint Feargal Sharkey as an environmental champion, and let him loose on these rogue water companies!

[@Dogfacedbloke]

That's where I live. I don't let my dog even paddle in Windermere, only in the fast flowing upland streams away from any outlets.

[@keepthemowingbladessharp]

Interesting how my earlier post telling the truth about the EA and the River Tyne missing Dace, was never published, says it all really

[@iainsmith4343]

When will directors be held accountable? This is a shocking as the Post Office scandal. CEO's should face criminal prosecution.

[@djhillfinger]

Last year me and a couple of friends done source to sea of the river spey on paddle boards, saw lots of big dead salmon, on the last day we all got real bad D and V, my friend went to the doctor's for tests, caught hep A,

[@Zoro007]

Feargal...you most likely wouldn't accept it but you deserve to be knighted or made a Lord.... you've been going on about this for years and your dedication to the subject and holding those responsible is highly commendable.....we'll done and hopefully you'll see some results...thank you 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@patrick247two]

"River water quality is an externality." Said by someone with a moat.

[@WoodFarm-u9o]

Thank you for keeping this hideous story running. Have signed up with Anglers Trust to test my local river to do a little bit to help due to Mr Sharkey.

[@walter3433]

That's what happens when you privatise water companies. Money goes out, turds go in

[@grahamsmith2022]

Go get 'em Feargal,voices like yours are essential,keep calling them out,these mafiosi water companies need to be held to account, this national disgrace will not be tolerated.

[@ThisisSnake1]

Nick must have his head buried in the sand. It's obvious without doing these challenges that our water is contaminated. A bit of rainfall gives these companies the right to spill sewage out.

[@benthedaddyYT]

Not saying Britain's rivers aren't polluted but some of these tests he was doing the explanation of what the results meant were very much bending the truth.

[@makspyda]

Come to West Wales, we get a thick sewage fungus growing in a stream feeding a ‘Special Area of Conservation’. Source = dairy farm. No Farmers. No Slurry.

[@rileymichael49]

Why are the authorities ignoring the weight of evidence

[@suzyqualcast6269]

The apparent prob with FS is that as age overtakes he looks increasingly like he's suffering the long term f of personally sampling UK river waters. With respect, just saying.

[@ianmcleod4]

Your doing a fab job feargal , 🍀👌

[@receptions7060]

A clean river these days is hard to find

[@baabaabaa-El]

Oh, well done mate!!

[@NBM397]

As a Dane living in Denmark, it is horrific to see just how far the UK has fallen behind during the last 20 years. Well, not only falling behind, but actively devolved from a place with faults, to becoming a much worse country than it was. At some pointed, I wanted to move there. Now, I don't even care to visit again.

[@paulkerry69]

Can't wait for him to do the trent

[@TwinPotMan]

Sadly, when I was doing my environmental chemistry degree over 40 years ago, we knew and tested for all these pollutants. At the time, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP) was active and engaged in policing water quality. HMIP was then subsumed into the newly-created and subsequently under-resourced and compromised Environment Agency, together with the National Rivers Authority and the privatised water companies were created as part of a certain political agenda. All these retrograde actions have created the woefully poor situation that Feargal has so clearly demonstrated in his reportage.

[@mattjackson9859]

Looks like the stretch between Conham River Park and Eastwood Farm Park on the opposite side, people often swim here on summer days!

[@john29john64]

Shocking

[@robinbennett3531]

Thankyou Feargal Sharkey

[@bumache]

Is there a demonstration about this on 26th October?

[@luminousfractal420]

n1 feargal, great educator. where im at now they organized a national bill strike. nobody is paying the bill next month to take a hit at our dodgy company luma. ✊🏼

[@Sat-Man-Alpha]

Poisened minds, poisened nature 😢

[@suatchaglan7446]

Indeef

[@kermit56780]

Shareholders.. dont care long as the waters flow clean where they swim, just not in the uk.

[@chrisholbrook141]

Chemical drum... probably agriculture or construction.

[@Andrew-rc3vh]

I think it is just run-off from the land. Phosphates are one of the essential ingredients to grow anything. They need NPK. You keep taking NPK from the land, then you can't grow anything.

[@gaza66]

Maybe everyone should stop paying there water bill untill it's fixed. 🤔

[@billmitchell7904]

Water is vital for life and far too important to be in the hands of companies who are only interested in profit! Thank you Mrs Thatcher 🤬

[@ioanbristow3376]

I had Ecoli a couple of months ago, that was scary. Worst stomach pain I've ever had, ended up in hospital. What the fck is going on with governments these days. It's a constant nightmare

[@BeasleyStreet]

Razor sharp Fergal!

[@rudegirlnycloy]

Go Feargal!

[@Milks808]

don't let this slip out of the public consciousness Fergal, this is pure greed laid bare

[@brendanmcnamara1414]

When you see the low life’s get honoured and people Like this go unhonoured it tells the story Of how we go here

[@STONECOLDET944]

Never take their word for it. Use my method, test the water before you swim, you can find quick water quality tests online

[@taichi500]

Feargal, you are a legend. But the Environment Agency and Ofwat are an absolute joke. Time for "ordinary" people to rise up and challenge the government of the day to actually do something instead of talking about it.