One
in five homes and businesses have drains illegally connected to clean water
drainage systems causing pollution in our rivers, lakes and groundwater
according to a new report published today (30th May, 2007) by the
Environment Agency.

 

Tricia
Henton, Director of Environment Protection: “ Wrong connections of washing
machines are common but we also know of cases where entire housing and
industrial estates have been incorrectly connected to the drainage system,
discharging used dirty water and sewage into surface water drains which go
straight to our rivers and groundwaters.

 

“Resolving
the problem of drains wrongly connected to surface water sewers requires
homeowners, builders and plumbers to take more care, and for building
regulations to be enforced.

 

“We
would like to see the introduction of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) in
the building of new homes and becoming a common feature of urban design. SUDs
can reduce and intercept pollution by slowing down rainfall run-off in
soakways, permeable surfaces, ponds and wetlands. They also help clean the
water before it drains into rivers or groundwater. We will continue to work
with central and local government to promote the use of SUDS.

 

“As well as SUDs we want to see simple checks for wrong
drainage connections in the new house seller’s pack accepted, this would help
to raise awareness of the problem and reduce its impact.”

 

The
report, The Unseen Threat to Our Water
Quality
, looks at how diffuse pollution is affecting rivers, lakes,
groundwaters, estuaries and coastal waters in
England and Wales. Diffuse pollution occurs when chemicals or other
contaminates disperse onto land or into water. It is most visible after
rainfall and can take hours, days or years to manifest itself.

 

Diffuse
pollution comes from both rural and urban environments and can include, run-off
from roads contaminated with oils and other chemicals –  poor drainage from housing estates,
accidental chemical and oil spills from transport and industrial sites. It also
includes, nutrients, soil and pesticides from farming.

 

The
report also found:

·        
In 2005
pesticides were detected in nearly a fifth of all the groundwater sites
monitored. There is no risk of contamination reaching drinking water because
water companies treat water to ensure it meets drinking water standards.  This is costly, the UK Water Industry spends
several million pounds each year removing pesticides from drinking water
abstracted from river and groundwater sources.

·        
More than one
in five rivers is at risk from the build up of sediment. Too much sediment,
often resulting from soil erosion from farming practices, blocks river-bed
gravels and reduces the supply of oxygenated water to aquatic plants and animals.

·        
In 2005 over
half the rivers in
England had high levels of phosphates. High levels of nutrients can
cause too much algal growth, a process called eutrophication, which harms other
wildlife. A study of 129 lakes in
England and Wales found that two thirds had concentrations of nutrients high
enough to be ecologically damaging. Half of all rivers and 40 per cent of lakes
are at risk from high levels of phosphate.

 

Tricia
Henton: continued “As well as becoming an increasing threat to our water
quality, diffuse pollution also has social and indirect economic costs.
Cleaning up rivers can turn them into natural focal points for business and
leisure. The poor quality of many urban rivers adds to social deprivation and
deters business investment. Diffuse pollution impacts on fisheries and bathing
waters, reducing angling opportunities and limiting recreation and tourism. The
costs are difficult to measure but are often likely to be substantial.

 

“However,
there has been good news. We have made great strides in cleaning pollution
problems from single sources such as major discharges from sewage treatment
works and industry. As a result salmon has returned to our major rivers like
the
Tees and the Mersey. ”

 

“Diffuse
water pollution poses many challenges but we are determined to address the
issues in order to improve water quality further. The Water Framework
Directive, a significant new piece of environmental legislation requiring all
inland and coastal waters to be of ‘good status’ by 2015, will help us in this
but it will also require help from industrialists, farmers, planners and the
public at large.

 

“As
part of this, we have refocused our monitoring to provide better information on
the impacts of diffuse pollution which will enable us to develop relevant,
targeted measures to improve water quality. We also want to work with
Government on their three forthcoming consultations, looking at tackling
problems caused by rural and urban diffuse pollution.”

 

The
report can be found at The Unseen Threat to Water Quality

About the author

Anglers' Net

Pin It on Pinterest