How toxic are Britain's rivers? Feargal Sharkey tests the River Avon with LBC

Nick Ferrari at Breakfast has teamed up with Feargal Sharkey to take an unvarnished look at the shocking state of Britain’s rivers.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

#feargalsharkey #environment #LBC

LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK.

[jaida]

Absolutely outrageous. Great piece by Fergal Sharkey. Please do not drop this story. It is heartbreaking to see the damage we are causing to the planet because of greed. The EA should be disbanded!

[philbraithwaite]

Should be on the prime time evening news.

[brianferguson]

Is there "anything" that has not been sold, ruined, or stolen by the Tories in the whole of the country 🤔

[ericaceous]

The state of our rivers is outrageous, and I'm glad Feargal is using his influence to try and bring positive change.
I hope he hits up somewhere in Derbyshire - would be very interested to know how these waterways are doing.

[mickyg]

Another privatisation disaster, the scale of what goes on would shock even Feargal, i have to work at plants regularly.

[tazpiramine]

We’re not doing nothing! Arrest the water companies!!!!

[steveday]

Nice one Feargal sadly i don't think our waterways are being chocked and poisoned slowly anymore. Its turbocharged 😢

[bumberClart]

Well done man! Doing the job of the incompetent water authorities. Let’s take them all to court

[The_DrAstrov]

If you think that's bad. Try the River Uck in Sussex. The clue is in the name "UCK" it's a open sewer.

[KiNiNjAzZ]

Fergal is a legend. Hopefully, bringing this to light facilitates the change needed.
We in Australia are experiencing the same issue. We need a Fergal to bring this dire situation to the people

[fintamaria]

I hope those who made millions of profits will pay😢😢😢

[paulgibbons]

Nobody voted to damage our rivers, and nobody is offering to clean them up. So politics can't get us out of this mess.
There is no consiquences to those who damage our rivers.
This should be a first duty of MP's. They should have a 'Duty of Care' to our rivers and environment.

[ebutuoyYT]

Make the senior executives and major shareholders of the water companies swim in these rivers, that they claim are clean enough, make them bring their family along, for a jolly nice day out.

[jimmyviaductophilelawley]

I went to school in Bath, at a place called Warleigh. Our school was bordered by the River Avon and we went swimming in it 3 times. All 3 times at least half of us got sick after swimming in the river. That was the 1980s I dread to think what it's like now.

[christopheredginton]

Fergal, you are a bigger star now than you ever were as a pop star. You are an environmental superstar. Keep up the pressure and the amazing work. We are all with you on this one!!!!

[davetekannon]

This is a great, great challenge and why not have cleaning up the River Avon as a goal for The United Kingdom? Why not have a River Avon Minister appointed whose one and only task will be to have the River Avon cleaned up and become a symbol of pride for all British people? This is doable and a job that people will cherish as a memorable experience and those that participate will always know that they have done something that matters.

[ThisisSnake]

Nick must have his head buried in the sand. It's obvious without doing these challenges that our water is contaminated. A bit of rainfall gives these companies the right to spill sewage out.

[Human_Herbivore]

Nitrates are used in food like ham, and are a known carcinogen. Ham isn't naturally pink, nitrates make it so.

[Human_Herbivore]

Human sewage in our waterways is a disgrace but the reality is, animal agriculture has been doing the same for decades.

All these things tested for are in the bodies of farmed animals.

[Human_Herbivore]

Algi blooms in rivers are, more often than not, a result of run off from animal farms. Remember, when Fergal talks of human waste, the same stuff comes from over one billion animals farmed in the UK.