Prof Pippa Chapman, Champion for the NERC Freshwater Quality Programme has contributed to a feature on water quality in the Big Issue 17 April , 2023.
Excerpt below. Read full article here.
Top of the Poops - Privatisation of water in the UK has resulted in soaring bills and sewage-filled rivers. How did we get here and how do we change course. by Chris Moss
People used to swim with their heads high above the water because they lacked confidence or wanted to protect their hairdo. Now they do it so that they don’t swallow shit.
If you like to swim, fish, dive or paddle in your local river, and you live in the North of England, think again. Seven of the 20 most polluted rivers are in the region, managed by United Utilities and Yorkshire Water.
If you have children, and those children share the age-old fascination with all things watery, then you’d better start thinking about overseas holidays – because your local rivers and, as a consequence, beaches could be dangerous for their health. The once feted ones down south are now more likely to be fetid.
Our rivers are always in the news right now. Activists like Feargal Sharkey and George Monbiot have been tireless protesters of their pollution, but other familiar names are getting involved – as are national media. Ray Mears is backing the New Scientist and I newspaper’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign. In the recent BBC documentary, Our Troubled Rivers, comedian and angler Paul Whitehouse lamented the state of the Wharfe...
Paul Whitehouse and Fergal Sharkey from the programme Troubled Waters.