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Pollution in River Tame 'bad enough to damage fish gills', Feargal Sharkey and LBC find
25 October 2024, 07:53 | Updated: 25 October 2024, 07:55
Feargal Sharkey visits the River Tame
This week, Feargal Sharkey, the former pop star and environment campaigner, traveled to the River Tame, near Stockport in Greater Manchester, to place one of the country’s biggest water companies, United Utilities, under the microscope.
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Serving seven million customers, United Utilities covers a significant swathe of north-west England, and has faced heavy criticism for its environmental record. In 2023, the company was recorded discharging sewage for over 650,000 hours - the equivalent of nearly 75 years’ worth of continuous dumping.
What’s more, the latest edition of Feargal on Friday has now raised fresh questions over the company’s record.
Mr Sharkey tested the river for a series of key determinants of river’s health, including phosphates, nitrates and ammonia, all of which are indicators of sewage pollution.
The River Tame failed in all three of these tests.
Nitrates and phosphates - which can spawn blue-green algae, a highly toxic constellation of microscopic organisms, capable of causing illness in humans and fatalities in wildlife - were both present in quantities beyond target levels.
For nitrates, the reading was 40% higher than the levels deemed ‘excessive’, whilst phosphates registered at 10% above the Environment Agency’s ‘Upper Limit’
High levels of ammonia - a byproduct of human excrement and urine - were also uncovered in the River Tame. Indeed, at 0.3 parts per million, the ammonia in the river hit levels associated with the destruction of fish gills.
Out of five rivers tested so far, the River Tame was the fourth to fail the tests carried out during Feargal on Friday.
Only the River Wye has thus far passed Mr Sharkey’s examinations, with the Avon, Severn and Don all failing comprehensively.
In response to LBC’s investigation, a spokesperson for United Utilities said: "As members of the River Tame Working Group, we work in partnership to manage catchment issues, including fly tipping, pollution and habitat improvements, and our River Rangers work across the river catchment to help improve the environment by forging closer links to the local community.
"We are currently investing more than £16 million to upgrade both Mossley and Saddleworth wastewater treatment works to help improve water quality in the River Tame.
“We are already seeing the benefit of this investment on the ecological status of the River Tame. This week, for instance, the first mayfly was discovered during a riverfly kick sample event.
“We know there is always more to do, that’s why we have also proposed the largest investment in wastewater infrastructure in the North West for a century, to tackle more than 400 storm overflows and help to transform 500km of waterways.”
Next week, Mr Sharkey will visit the River Trent.
