Pollution Prevention
The Water Quality Crisis
In a House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee report published in January 2022, the dire state of the quality of our rivers in the England was highlighted. The report identified that “A ‘chemical cocktail’ of sewage, agricultural waste, and plastic is polluting the waters of many of the country’s rivers.” The report identified that no rivers in England passed the appropriate standards with respect to chemical contamination.
The quality of rivers is assessed through the use of several different indicators as the figure to the right shows the proportion of rivers in England which achieved good status at the date of last measurement.
Human wastewater, farm slurry and fertiliser run-off from farms are all sources of phosphorus and nitrogen and excessive concentrations of these nutrients can cause algal blooms in rivers which reduce dissolved oxygen concentrations, ‘undermining ecosystems within the river and their surrounding habitats’.
Image Source: Gov.uk, State of the water environment indicator B3: supporting evidence, June 2021.
With respect to the agricultural sector, the report identified that intensive farming was putting enormous pressure on water catchments, and it highlighted the plight of the River Wye which has seen a significant increase in phosphorous concentrations as a result of the proliferation of poultry farms in the catchment
When reviewing the impact of the sewage and wastewater sector, the report highlighted the problems associated with discharges of raw sewage to our rivers. Data from Event Duration Monitors installed on storm overflows has shown that raw sewage and rainwater is released to rivers hundreds of thousands of times a year.
The report also raised concerns regarding emerging contaminants including microplastics and chemicals such as pharmaceuticals and narcotics, which are not dealt with by current wastewater treatment methods, and which are also not systematically measured in treated waters that are discharged to rivers. Chemicals of concern included PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances) which have been widely used in fire suppressants and in stain repellents paints and polishes.
What can be done?
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Source Containment
Oracle Environmental Experts have partnered with Sandfield Penstock Solutions to encourage landowners to do all they can to prevent pollution of our water environment. The experts at Sandfield manufacture and deliver a range of automated water pollution prevention products and services to help protect our water environment.
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Spill Kits
Oracle Environmental Experts can advise on spill kit requirements to suit you site and assist in the supply of the necessary equipment.
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Spill Response Planning
The reality is that spill incidents will happen, and an effective spill response plan should ensure that impacts to the environment and to health, will be minimised in the event of a spill incident occurring.