The River Sid and its wider catchment was tested this year as part of the Great UK WaterBlitz
The report’s key findings
- 60% of datapoints across the UK show poor water quality, with unacceptable levels of nutrient pollution
- Over four WaterBlitzes, England consistently has the worst water quality in the UK; this autumn 66% of sites tested had unacceptable levels of nutrient pollution
- Once again, our data suggest the Thames river basin district has the worst water quality in the UK, with 81% of measurements showing unacceptable levels of nutrient pollution; despite the Thames Tideway Tunnel becoming fully operational in February of this year
- The counties of Tyrone in Northern Ireland, Mid Glamorgan in Wales, and the four counties of Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran, City of Aberdeen and Dunbartonshire in Scotland have the best water quality, with 100% of measurements indicating low levels of pollution
- In England, the county of Northumberland has the best water quality, with 94% of measurements indicating good ecological status
- Cambridgeshire has the worst water quality in the UK, with 91% of measurements indicating poor ecological status
- Every freshwater sample has additional chemical contamination evidencing pollution from sewage discharges and agricultural runoff
- Of the 20 chemicals assessed, 12 of them are present at concentrations that pose risks to aquatic life
- Antibiotics are found at concentrations that suggest we should consider antimicrobial resistance developing in our freshwaters
- Illicit drugs such as ketamine are prevalent in our waterways (although they pose limited risk to aquatic life)
- The insecticide imidacloprid is found at high concentrations in some samples from across the UK; posing moderate to high risk to aquatics invertebrates which are vitally important for ecological health
The full report is available here
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