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Nick Ferrari and Feargal Sharkey join forces to investigate the state of Britain's polluted waterways
27 September 2024, 07:40 | Updated: 27 September 2024, 09:27
Nick Ferrari at Breakfast has teamed up with Feargal Sharkey to take an unvarnished look at the shocking state of Britain’s rivers.
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A lifelong fly-fisher who has become synonymous with the issue of water pollution, Sharkey is probably better known as the lead vocalist of iconic 70s punk band The Undertones.
Now, the frontman will be undertaking an entirely different kind of UK tour, as he sets about testing the UK’s best-known rivers for a whole range of bugs, nasties and carcinogens.
Every Friday, LBC will travel with Mr Sharkey to a new location, beginning a stone’s throw away from Conham River Park, a popular wild swimming location on the Bristol stretch of the River Avon.
It yielded results which will horrify those thinking about taking a dip any time soon.
Read more: How Britain's filthy rivers left me 24 hours from death by Feargal Sharkey
Using equipment supplied by the Angling Trust, LBC conducted tests for three key pollutants which indicate the presence of sewage and chemicals which can damage human health.
The tests also saw Simplex Health commissioned to carry out laboratory tests for the potentially deadly bacteria E Coli
Feargal Sharkey tests the toxicity of England's rivers | Episode One: The River Avon, Bristol
Alarmingly, the river failed three of these four tests - breaching the Environment Agency’s (EA’s) standards for E Coli, meaning it unsafe to swim in.
The results for phosphates and nitrates, both key indicators of river pollution, were also concerning. At 0.69 PPM (parts per million), the level of phosphates was more than double the EA’s upper limit.
“This river is completely toxic with phosphate,” Mr Sharkey said upon learning of the result, which could result in conditions that are “highly toxic for humans and lethal for animals” if blue-green algae forms.
Mr Sharkey added: “This is not a clean test for this river. Nitrates, phosphates - this river has been poisoned. Personally speaking, I would not go swimming in there, and I would strongly suggest you don’t want to either.
“The company involved in this, Wessex Water - 19% of your bill goes to paying nothing but interest on debt. This company has paid out so much in dividends that every household within their service area has paid out £2,207 to shareholders.
“This river has been slowly strangled to death by incompetence, greed and financial engineering.”
A Wessex Water spokesperson said: “Storm overflows have always been part of the sewerage system and discharge mostly rainwater to prevent flooding of properties, but we’re committed to reducing how often they operate and are spending £3 million every month on schemes to achieve this – including just upstream from Conham River Park where a huge storage tank has been built.
“We’re also currently investing more than £51 million on expanding two major water recycling centres further upstream, providing more treatment capacity and improved infrastructure to meet the demands of a growing local population.
“Lowland rivers will always have bacteria in them, and the safety of wild swimming at specific locations like Conham River Park is for councils and other government bodies to determine. But we support the desire for wild swimmers being able to make an informed choice.”
Next week, Feargal continues his journey by visiting Britain’s longest river - the River Severn.
The stark results follow the news water companies could face two years in prison and be banned from taking bonuses as part of Labour crackdown on England's chemical and manure-infested waters.
The Water (Special Measures) Bill, is designed to hand new powers to regulators Ofwat and the Environment Agency as they look to punish water companies for failing both the environment and customers.
The government has slammed the current enforcement system, which has seen only three individuals criminally prosecuted by the Environment Agency without appeal since privatisation.
It comes as Ofwat proposed £168 million of fines for three of England's biggest water companies in August for failing to manage sewage spills, including a £104 million penalty for Thames Water.
