‘Chemical cocktail’ of sewage, slurry and plastic polluting English rivers puts public health and nature at risk
Date published:
January 13, 2022
Poor water quality in English rivers is a result of chronic underinvestment and multiple failures in monitoring, governance and enforcement, the Environmental Audit Committee warnsOnly 14% of English rivers meet good ecological status, with pollution from agriculture, sewage, roads and single-use plastics contributing to a dangerous ‘chemical cocktail’ coursing through our waterways. Not a single river in England has received a clean bill of health for chemical contamination.Read the full report and related articles
More from the water sector
Find out how the UK water sector is informing, innovating, and influencing change
Future Water Awards 2026 – Nominations now open
Celebrate excellence in the UK water sector by nominating outstanding individuals and organisations for the 2026 Future Water Awards, recognising emerging talent, people, and above-and-beyond contributions.
CEO BLOG: The Government’s Water White Paper: A Defining Moment for Sector Reform
The Government’s Water Sector White Paper marks a defining moment for industry reform, setting out a clear path toward a single integrated regulator and a new supervisory, delivery-focused model. In this CEO blog, Future Water reflects on what the reforms mean for regulation, resilience, transition risk, and how the Association will support the sector through the changes ahead.
The Government’s Water White Paper signals the biggest reform in a generation—reshaping regulation, oversight, and delivery across the water sector.
Delivering Demand Reduction Without Behaviour Change
Behaviour-led water efficiency is inherently unpredictable and difficult to bank against long-term targets. This article explores why reliance on customer behaviour introduces planning risk—and how system-level, engineered solutions like meter-point flow moderation deliver consistent, auditable, and enduring demand reduction without ongoing customer effort.
Why behaviour-led water efficiency is too uncertain—and how engineered, system-level solutions deliver reliable, long-term demand reduction.