UK's biggest water company fails three environmental tests carried out by Feargal Sharkey and LBC

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By Henry Moore

The UK’s biggest water company has failed three key environmental tests carried out by LBC in the latest edition of Feargal on Friday.

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Feargal Sharkey, the legendary lyricist and former lead singer of The Undertones, headed to Witney in Oxfordshire, an area once represented by former prime minister Lord Cameron, where he waded into the Colwell Brook, a small stream which ultimately feeds into the River Thames.

For years, local campaign groups, such as Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, have highlighted the brook’s deteriorating condition to Thames Water, which oversees the treatment of sewage in the region.

In particular, they have noted the abundance of sewage fungus in the brook, a stringy and slimy collection of bacteria which is often a byproduct of effluent from sewage works.

Read more: LBC and Feargal Sharkey uncover pollution three times above 'excessive' levels in Britain's rivers

LBC’s testing has now provided further evidence to substantiate these concerns.

The brook failed for the deadly bacteria E-Coli, phosphate and nitrates, whilst also registering borderline results for ammonia.

Testing carried out by Simplex Health on behalf of LBC showed the presence of E Coli exceeded the level at which the Environment Agency (EA) considers a river to be “poor quality bathing water”. It is the second river which has failed Feargal’s E Coli audit, after the River Severn displayed levels fifty-times over the EA’s limit. 

Meanwhile, the brook’s phosphate levels were twice the upper limit defined by the internationally-respected Water Framework Directive, and over three times above the point at which the concentration of nitrates in a river is deemed “excessive”.

Both nitrates and phosphates are indicators of the presence of sewage in a river. The latter can culminate in the spawning of algal blooms, which can prevent sunlight reaching water bodies, potentially resulting in the death of the wildlife inhabiting them.

Reflecting on these results, Feargal noted the discrepancy in the regulation faced by farmers and the water industry as a key reason for the problems facing the brook.

“There are predominantly two sources of nitrogen that we would be concerned with - human sewage and farming. Farmers have got very strict regulations on where and when they dump slurry… it is effectively illegal.

“Water companies do not have to comply with the same legislation. They create it as a byproduct of treating human sewage and dump it straight into our rivers.

“All of that toxicity, all of that poison, flows down Colwell Brook into the River Windrush, onto the River Thames, and throughout the Thames Valley there are over 200 sewage works… adding yet more death, destruction and ecological damage to a river system that’s already stressed. And we call that progress in the 21st century?”

As well as facing criticism for their environmental record, Thames Water is on the brink of financial collapse. The company has accumulated over £15bn of debt and has argued that, in order to service these debts, it will be necessary to up bills by 59% over a five-year period.

In response to LBC’s investigation, a Thames Water spokesperson said: “We know how much people enjoy and appreciate rivers, and we are committed to seeing waterways thrive, but we can’t do it alone. Farming, industry, road runoff, wildlife and increasingly extreme weather also play a role in river health.

"We have clear and deliverable plans to upgrade 250 of our sites across the region, to increase treatment capacity and reduce the number of storm discharges, including at our Witney sewage treatment works.

“As infrastructure ages and demand on it increases, more investment is needed across the entire sector. That’s why we’ve asked for increased investment in the next regulatory cycle between 2025-2030.”