As Paul Whitehouse highlighted in his programs one of the main sources of river pollution are the Combined Sewage Outflows (CSO's) which are designed to direct sewage into our rivers during times of heavy rainfall, when it would be diluted and washed away by the rainwater. Unfortunately the water companies often find it convenient to illegally discharge at other times when the consequences can be dire for life in the river.
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​just be a surface water drain but we have been concerned about it in the past as it had been discharging in dry weather with a cloudy flow. When an outflow is discharging in dry weather this indicates that it may be illegal sewage or possibly a misconnection (see this blog on misconnections). However this is not foolproof as the outflow below the bridge will probably be a culverted stream, so it is likely to run continuously. However it is worth, whenever you walk over Clog Bridge, to just look over to check the flow from these outlets, if it is cloudy or milky please report it to the Environment Agency and also let us know. For more details on how to do this go to the How you can Help page. According to the Poo Map neither of our CSO's discharges much, although it does say there are technical problems which may mean incidents are under reported, so we need to keep an eye on them.

Paul Whitehouse certainly didn’t pull any punches in his programs on river pollution in which he appears to lay the blame at the feet of the water companies, with a supporting role for farmers. However, in a way why would we be believe otherwise? The water companies are run by investment companies who are more interested in profit than in the quality of the water in our rivers.   Yorkshire Water, for instance, is owned by the Kelda Group which is in turn owned by:

• Government of Singapore investment Corporation (GIC SI, Singapore).
• Corsair Infrastructure Management
• Deutsch Asset Management (Germany)
• SAS Trustee Corporation (Australia)

On Corsair’s website they trumpet  

“Our purpose is simple, to create value inclusive of financial returns on behalf of our investors and portfolio companies.”
 
So we can’t expect the water companies to have the health of our rivers at heart. The only way to  make them do the right thing is by regulation.
 
There are two bodies that regulate the water companies:

• The Office of Water Services (OFWAT). This body’s main interest is in regulating the economic interests of the consumer, ensuring the provision of cheap water both now and in the future. It has little influence on environmental matters and is more concerned with keeping charges down. 
• The Environment Agency (EA). The EA’s aim is “to protect or enhance the environment, taken as a whole" with the "the objective of achieving sustainable development" ( Environment Act 1995). The Agency reports to and is funded by the Department of Environment and Rural Affairs.

 
One of the EA’s main regulatory duties is looking after our rivers. Unfortunately  the Government has cut its funding by 56% since 2010 (Independent 29/8/22).  Little surprise that the EA finds it increasingly difficult to monitor the quality of our rivers. We understand that in recent years the number of EA staff tasked with investigating pollution incidents on the Aire have dropped from ten to two which, inevitably, means less effective monitoring. That is two inspectors to cover the whole Aire catchment from Malham down to Goole!
 
So it’s possible Paul Whitehouse missed an opportunity to point the finger at another culprit rather than just the Water Companies – the Government.
 
But all is not lost, and in our next blog we will suggest ways in which we can do things locally to make a difference.

​So finally, in part three of Robert (aka Urban Pollution Hunter) Hellawell's sewage trilogy we find out about misconnections and how they are a danger for our river. But first we explore separate sewer systems. Read on............

Misconnections into surface water drains are all too commonplace. Having two sewer systems means that mistakes can be made where toilets, sinks and baths are plumbed into the surface water drain in separate sewer areas. The effluent from these misconnections flows straight into the nearest river or beck and causes low grade, diffuse pollution. ​

New extensions of kitchens and bathrooms are often connected into the wrong sewer by unscrupulous or uninformed tradesmen. This causes avoidable pollution of our watercourses that is both difficult to trace and expensive to repair. If you are having work done, ask your plumber if he is “Water Safe” accredited and understands the risk of pollution from misconnections. ​

Are you Misconnected? We can all check to see if we are polluting our rivers from our own homes. Firstly, we need to figure out if our home is served by a separate sewer system or not. If your home was built after the second world war, then it is likely that you are on a separate sewer system. If you are on a separate sewer system, there will be two drainpipes connected to your home. One will take the rainwater from your roof, the other will take the foul effluent from toilets baths and sinks. There should be no connections from sinks, baths or toilets into the drainpipe that takes the rainwater from your roof. The ConnectRight website is extremely helpful in finding out if you are misconnected and to find a local plumber who is “Water Safe” accredited. ​

Not all misconnections are from extensions and alterations. There have been multiple instances of new build houses being connected into the surface water sewer by the developers! One such development which has recently been traced and rectified on Bradford Beck dated back 25 years. Other similar instances are much newer and are a source of acute embarrassment for the authorities who have passed off new build houses without checking where the effluent ended up. ​

Not all misconnections are new. With our rich, industrial heritage being increasingly recognised, vacant, old industrial buildings are being repurposed. Many old buildings date from a time before there was any local sewage treatment. Marley wastewater treatment works, which processes the sewage from Keighley, was not constructed until the early 1900s. Before this time, all effluent was simply piped straight into the nearest river. Redevelopments of old buildings sometimes use existing drains not knowing that they take the sewage straight to the river just as they did in the old days! ​

Only rain down the drain please! In separate sewer areas, the gullies that drain our roads lead straight into the river. This means that when you wash your car on your drive, or the road, wash paint brushes out, or swill wastewater down the drain, this will all end up in the nearest river or beck. Please be mindful of what you are disposing of down the drains as there is a chance that you are polluting our river. ​

You can help by becoming a pollution spotter. If you value spending time by the river, then remember to always keep an eye out for any pollution. All the plants and aquatic insects and the fish, birds and mammals that rely on them as food, all require clean, unpolluted water to thrive. If you see pollution to our rivers and becks, then take pictures if you can, share with the FRiends of Silsden Beck (contact us here) and always report pollution incidents to the Environment Agency on their free hotline 0800 80 70 60. Together we can make a difference caring for and protecting our rivers. ​

This blog first appeared on the River Worth Friends website.

​Here is part two of our blog trilogy from Rob Hellawell, aka #urbanpollutionhunter. In part one he talked about the two different sewage systems; combined sewage and separate sewage. In part two he will go into more detail about the problems with combined sewage systems, problems that have regularly made the news in recent months.

As discussed previously, we have two types of sewer systems in the UK, combined sewer systems and separate sewer systems. Here we look at how sewage can get into our rivers from combined sewer systems. ​

Combined Sewer Systems are designed to discharge sewage via Combined Sewer Overflows or CSOs as they are often referred to. They act as a safety valve, releasing storm water containing sewage into our rivers in times of rain. They are only allowed to discharge in this way when the volume of flow in the combined sewer reaches an agreed rate. This is usually during, or following, heavy rainfall. The precise details are given in the Discharge Consent Permit issued by the Environment Agency (EA) for each CSO. All Discharge Consent Permits are held by the EA and can be obtained free of charge by the public. ​

Pollution is said to occur when a CSO discharges outside the agreed limits of its permit. In this case, it will discharge well before the permitted, sewer flow rates in the discharge consent permit. So, if it is not raining now, and it has also been dry for a few hours, then there should be no sewage escaping from any CSO. Sewage escapes from CSOs in dry weather mean that there is a problem in the sewer system. Discharges from CSOs during dry weather conditions is considered to be pollution by the EA. ​

The sewage discharges which have made the news recently are largely from CSOs that serve as overflows to Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW). Here the concentration and sheer volume of sewage discharged can have a detrimental impact on the health of our rivers. An unsightly aspect of CSOs is the substantial amounts of sewage litter which they discharge into our rivers. Much of this is plastic based such as wet wipes, nappies and other sanitary products, adding to our growing problem of plastic pollution in our seas. It is a sobering thought that anything which we flush down the toilet has a chance of ending up in your nearest beck or river. Sewage litter caught along the banks of our rivers is evidence of CSO discharges nearby. ​

Only the “Three Ps” should be flushed down your toilet! These are pee, poo and paper. Sadly, not everyone follows this guidance, and everyday all kinds of debris are flushed down our toilets that can lead to blockages in sewers. Pollution of our rivers can then follow as the CSO upstream of the blockage does its job and discharges sewage into the river instead of that sewage backing up and spilling out in our homes and streets.  ​

You can find out if you have a CSO, or other permitted discharge, near you by looking on the Rivers Trust sewage map which can be found on the Rivers Trust website. 
https://www.theriverstrust.org/key-issues/sewage-in-rivers
In the next instalment we will look at pollution to our rivers from separate sewer systems and finally learn what a misconnection is. 
This blog originally appeared on the River Worth Friends website.

Sewage pollution of our rivers has been in the headlines in recent months. The concern has been all about untreated, sewage escapes from wastewater treatment plants. However, there can be many other, smaller pollution sources affecting our rivers that often go unnoticed; I am talking about misconnections. Misconnections are one of the main contributors to what is known as diffuse pollution, particularly in built up, urban environments. Diffuse pollution is that which has no obvious single source. The increasing effects of numerous, misconnections can have a detrimental impact on urban rivers whilst remaining unnoticed.
There has always been pollution of our rivers. Many settlements have grown up around a river or beck. Clean, fresh water is vital for life, but flowing water also provides a readymade way of disposing of our waste. Ever since humans have settled by rivers, we have polluted them! It was the Victorians who built our first sewers. To understand misconnections, first we must understand how our sewers work.
We have two types of sewer systems in the UK. Sewers built before the 1930s are known as combined sewers. Sewers built after the 19030s are known as separate sewers. Each has their own different pollution problems.
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​Combined sewers take the foul sewage from our toilets, sinks and baths combined with rainwater run-off from roofs and roads and convey the whole lot to the wastewater treatment works (WWTW) where all the effluent is treated and cleaned before being returned to the river. In industrial areas, this may also include wastewater from industrial processes. However, in times of heavy rain, the combined sewer can become overloaded. In this case, our Victorian ancestors thoughtfully included a safety valve to stop sewage bubbling up in our streets and homes.
The Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) permits excess sewage to be discharged directly into the river to help keep our sewage system working during times of heavy rain. Depending on the dilution of the sewage from storm water, it is said that this overflow into the river contains 5% – 10% of raw sewage. In industrial areas this sewage will also contain industrial effluent too.

​In part two we will look in more detail at how the different sewage systems can cause pollution issues in our rivers and what constitutes a misconnection.
This blog first appeared on the River Worth Friends website.