Daily Archives: 20 Feb 2024

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20 Feb 2024

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Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 5 February

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20 Feb 2024

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Exmouth residents plan protest at South West Water roadshow

South West Water will be hosting a ‘roadshow’ at Exmouth Town Hall (Tuesday) and members of the public are planning a protest outside.

Adam Manning www.exmouthjournal.co.uk 

They are holding a demonstration outside the Town Hall at 1.30pm, which the group behind it say is ‘to make it very clear to SWW that we simply don’t accept the damage they are doing to us, to our environment, and to our tourism. Enough is enough’.

A Facebook group called ESCAPE (End Sewage Convoys And Poollution Exmouth) is open for members of the public to join and find out the latest on sewage pollution in Exmouth and Budleigh.

A spokesman for the protest said: “Please come and demonstrate with us. SWW needs to be held to account, and they need to see just how unhappy we are with their actions (or, more accurately, their INactions).”

In response to this, South West Water said: “The opinions of our customers matter to us greatly. We are listening and know we have more to do. The purpose of events like our Community Roadshow in Exmouth tomorrow is to hear directly from customers and have the opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have.

“We are investing to help deliver improvements in our environmental performance, and will continue to do all we can to protect our region’s seas and rivers.”

SWW are hosting a series of coastal community roadshows across the region to share latest business plan with customers and to demonstrate how we’re investing record amounts in making improvements right across the South West.

In Exmouth, they will be explaining to residents how the water and wastewater systems work and explaining more about the plans we have for Exmouth and the surrounding areas.

The event is fully booked, representatives of the water company will be at Exmouth Town Hall, St Andrews Road, EX8 1AW from 2pm-6pm.

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Everything you wish you never needed to know about sewage fungus

The smelly, nasty bacteria that spells bad news for rivers is flourishing in the UK. Here is how to spot it and what it means.

Leana Hosea www.theguardian.com 

What is sewage fungus?

It is slimy, murky brown, smells bad, and fills river enthusiasts and anglers with gloom.

But it is probably useful to know that sewage fungus, so called because of its fungal-shaped mass of filaments, is not fungus at all, but is primarily made up of several species of bacteria, most commonly Sphaerotilus natans, Beggiatoa alba, Carchesium polypinum, and Flexibacter species. By the time you see its characteristic slimy, floating fronds, it will contain some fungi and algae, too, and it always spells bad news for the river in which it is spotted and for any unfortunate wildlife living there.

Where do you find it and where does it come from?

Sewage fungus flourishes in waterways polluted with high levels of nutrients and organic matter.

Sewage discharges are a common source of this kind of pollution, but these microorganisms can also be carried into waterways from animal slurry and even from effluent from paper mills. Last month, a Devon farmer was fined £6,000 for polluting a stream with slurry, with thick sewage fungus visible for more than a mile downstream, the Environment Agency reported. A study by Oxford University found that sewage pollution, whether treated or untreated, was the primary reason for increased sewage fungus in rivers.

Is it dangerous?

Sewage fungus can reduce oxygen levels in water, suffocating aquatic life. So it can, for example, smother fish eggs and prevent them from hatching. In severe cases, a river may not be able to support invertebrates as a result. Mass fish deaths have taken place in watercourses plagued by the fungus, which can then affect the whole food web. Even when sewage fungus is removed it can have a long-term effect on river health and it can take time for life in the river to recover.

Underwater view of sewage fungus growing in a stream polluted from slurry and dung from a dairy farm. 

Does it pose a significant danger to human health? Dr Anne Jungblut, a microbiome expert from the Natural History Museum, says it is a mould, and so could contain human pathogens. “It’s the level of danger of the junk in the kitchen plughole, which wouldn’t be good to eat. If there’s a lot of it in the river you wouldn’t want to swim there, as it’s an indicator there’s likely to be sewage, which could have E coli in it and that is dangerous,” he said.

Some of the UK’s most prized landscapes are blighted with sewage fungus. It has taken hold in Lake Windermere and has been spotted on the picturesque River Wye, as well as on a public footpath in Surrey after sewage overflowed from a Thames Water treatment works.

Is it getting worse?

The more sewage releases there are, the greater the probability of an increasing growth of sewage fungus. In 2022, 389,165 sewage spills were reported in the UK, discharging for a staggering 2.4m hours.

“It is very hard to tell if the situation is getting worse, as there is so little research in this area,” says Dr Michelle Jackson, whose study for the University of Oxford found that sewage pollution was worse than agricultural runoff for rivers. “Although water companies have to report outbreaks downstream of treatment works, they only use a simple visual inspection.”

A citizen science survey project by the Rivers Trust reported 322 instances of sewage fungus in rivers across the UK and Ireland, which represents 9% of the surveys taken. The Environment Agency says river health has been improving since the Industrial Revolution, but that is a low bar and new and emerging pollutants are replacing those from older industries. Add to that increased pressure on the wastewater system from a growing population, underinvestment in outdated infrastructure, and stresses from climate breakdown, and it is clear that changes need to be made if rivers and the wildlife they support are to be restored to health.

How can sewage fungus be tackled?

Outbreaks will increase unless water quality improves. To better monitor sewage fungus, Oxford University has developed an AI model to detect where the bacteria are growing, even before they become visible. ​​The method uses imaging techniques and machine learning to identify sewage particles and sewage fungus in water samples. The researchers say this could act as an early detection system for spotting harmful outbreaks, acting as “a canary in the coalmine” to limit pollution buildup and halt species decline.

Dr Dania Albini, a co-author of the research, wants to see improvements to wastewater plants, along with more regulations. “These efforts are crucial in safeguarding the integrity and safety of our rivers – fundamental elements of both ecosystems and human wellbeing,” she said when the report was published late last year.

But until there is action to target the sewage discharge problem, people may have to get used to the sight of the insidious fungus and its slimy fronds in the UK’s waterways.

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Sewage spills are a stinker for Tories in marginal seats

Battleground seats held by the Conservatives have the highest number of sewage spills of any marginal constituencies, The Times has found.

George Willoughby, Adam Vaughan www.thetimes.co.uk 

The figures show how exposed Tory MPs are to attacks over the party’s record on water pollution. Seats won in the 2019 general election by a margin of less than 10 per cent will be crucial when people next vote.

The Times can reveal that of the 79,467 sewage spills in marginal constituencies in 2022, over 39,000 were in Conservative seats, more than those held by any other party. Labour marginal seats were second at little more than 26,000.

The Liberal Democrats have made sewage one of their top campaign issues, with Sir Ed Davey, the party leader, saying Tory voters were “very, very angry” over spills.

Since being appointed last September, Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, has also concentrated on water quality, saying the “sewage scandal” was a result of “Conservative failure”.

Polling of 6,000 adults by Survation found that 56 per cent of people would consider raw sewage discharges when they voted in the next general election. The number for those who voted Tory in 2019 is 51 per cent, whereas for Labour voters it is 66 per cent.

The high number of spills in Tory-held marginal seats appears to be a ­result of the party’s gains in “red wall” areas in 2019. About 25,000 spills in 2022 were in marginal constituencies the party gained from Labour. About 14,000 sewage discharges were in marginal seats the Tories held in 2019.

The Welsh constituency of Carmarthen East & Dinefwr, held by Jonathan Edwards, the former Plaid Cymru MP who is now an independent, had the most sewage spills of all marginal seats, with 7,103 dumps. Edwards holds a 4 per cent majority.

The Arfon constituency, held by Plaid Cymru, had the second most spills for a marginal seat, followed by three Tory consituencies: Ynys Môn, North West Durham and Aberconwy.

The drier weather last year is believed to have led to a slight fall in the number of sewage spills.

Discharges happen mostly during heavy rain when sewer capacity is overwhelmed. Sewage releases are often a result of geography and water company infrastructure. Having a high number of spills in their constituency can leave MPs ­vulnerable to criticism, however.

The Lib Dems attribute their victory in the 2021 Chesham & Amersham by-election to their concentration on polluted local chalk streams. One of the marginal seats in the party’s sights is Cheltenham, held by Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, with a majority of 981.

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem environment spokesman, said the Tories’ failure to tackle the sewage crisis would cost them seats at the next election. “Lifelong Conservative voters are planning to vote Liberal Democrat for the first time because of this,” he added.

Labour is yet fully to set out its stall on how it would tackle water pollution. The Tories recently pinched one of the party’s headline ideas: ending self-monitoring of water companies.

Rebecca Pow, an environment minister and MP for Taunton Deane, said: “We have a plan and it’s already in place. The water companies have to be taken into account.”

Reed said: “This Conservative government has meekly sat back … while toxic sewage pollutes our waterways.”