Sewage warning for the Thames

[dezza]

I hear that 1/2 a million cubic metres of raw sewage has been dumped in the Thames, and the excuse given out by the "authorities" is that the Thames valley sewage plants are too small and incapable of handling it!

Goodness gracious, have you seen the date lately?

The year is 2011 isn't it, not 1811!

Why in the name of sufferance do we not have adequate sewage treatment facilities in this country? There is no doubt that the UK is on it's way backwards towards a new "middle age". London, at one time one of the proudest most advanced cities in the world has become a **** heap. And then there have been the riots!

Gentlemen, the time has come to take stock and sort out our priorities.

Don't you think?

 

[newbieneil]

I totally agree,since starting fishing some 4-5 years ago i have become more aware of these things and i simply can not understand why any kind of waste is dumped into rivers at all!? . Nobody should have these so called `permits` to discharge waste and any business that could possibly leak polluted effluent into a nearby watercourse should not be allowed to be situated where they are in the first place under planning laws.

 

[watatoad]

Does anyone know how to build a guillotine, maybe I should wear a red, white and blue cap and take up knitting...Hmm! perhaps that is a good idea...guess its either that or standing for Parliament so I can get my nose in the trough.

Right here goes:

WATATOAD

FOR

EL PRESIDENTE

GRANDE SUPREMO

FATHER

OF HIS

COUNTRYSHIP

VOTE

FOR

ME

WATATOAD

I'M GREEN
​

Well wataya fink...hehehe

---------- Post added at 03:36 ---------- Previous post was at 03:29 ----------

Hehehe.

However being serious it is down to temporary sewerage discharge licenses that have been granted some 20,000 of them and they have been temporary for well over 20 years.

Just throw in little or no investment in sewerage and recycling. Instead put in place a massively and vastly expanded bureaucracy the giving away of our utilities to other countries and massive profits extracted for a very few and even these are mainly to non English companies and perhaps individuals. Throw in some very dubious decisions and support by some members of Parliament, local councils, local government officers and the Ministries and you have the problem in hand.

 

[dezza]

I fear you are right Toad.

 

[watatoad]

So I can count on your vote then...hehehe

 

[Philip]

A few years ago I seem to recall complaints about a lack of fry on the Thames and it was suggested there was a lack of microorganisms in the water to sustain them. It was suggested this was a consequence of treated water being pumped into the river basically being too clean. Now its too dirty again. Seems we cant make our mind up and I think people are basically never going to be happy are they.

The river runs through one of the biggest urban sprawls in the world and the most densely populated region in Europe, south east England. Perhaps instead of constantly trying to pick holes moan and complain maybe we should give ourselves a pat on the back that there is any fish in there at all.
We have already seen on another thread that 10 year data shows the Thames has more fish per m3 of water than other rivers including the Trent. As they dont run through central London and have less fish I would say you would be better off focusing your attention and complaints on whats wrong on that river.

 

[waggy]

So I can count on your vote then...hehehe

If you can promise us chain gangs of rioters digging new sewers with pick and shovel, you've got mine.

 

[stu_the_blank]

Philip,

In the last year, 39,000,000,000 (yes billion) litres of raw sewage were dumped in the tidal Thames (or 39,000,000 tons if you prefer!). Quite legally. It is due to increace by 2.5 times in the next ten years if the Tideway Tunnel isn't built.

There was a massive fish kill in June, last week, oxygen levels around Hamersmith yet again dropped to levels that should have wiped out any living organisms, nothing noticable died, there's nothing left there at the moment.They all died in June. Every time we get over 2mm of rain, the 'emergency' overflows spew sewage into the Thames. Dear old Bazalgette built a sewage system for a city of 2.5 Mill. not what we've got now. David Walliams really should be doing the backstroke when he gets below Richmond, I wouldn't put my head underwater

Go on the TAC website. Discharge warnings are a weekly occurance, so if the Trent really is worse, I shan't be bothering to travel north to fish!

Stu

 

[Jeff Woodhouse]

A few years ago I seem to recall complaints about a lack of fry on the Thames and it was suggested there was a lack of microorganisms in the water to sustain them. It was suggested this was a consequence of treated water being pumped into the river basically being too clean.

There is a balance to be struck by how much clean water, purified by the STWs, and how much natural water containing phyoplankton and zooplankton there should be.

However, there is a difference between having a natural amount of planktons and the dumping of raw sh*t into the Thames and the latter seems to be most convenient for Thames Water at times.

David Walliams really should be doing the backstroke when he gets below Richmond, I wouldn't put my head underwater

They were looking for a big pike that might eat him.

 

[Philip]

There is a balance to be struck by how much clean water, purified by the STWs, and how much natural water containing phyoplankton and zooplankton there should be.

However, there is a difference between having a natural amount of planktons and the dumping of raw sh*t into the Thames and the latter seems to be most convenient for Thames Water at times.

I don't claim all is well, and I certainly dont condone the dumping of raw sewage . However my point is that is it really restricted to the Thames ? Which seems to be a target for certain people. How come the Thames gets the bad press when its actually got more fish in it than rivers like the Trent ? How do you explain that ? I also dont see any suggestions on how to solve the problems ...just whiners complaining.

So whats the solution guys ?

& btw I also take exception when someone calls my hometown a **** heap ! ...I speak to allot of foreign people and I can honestly say that 99% of the time if they ask about the UK they ask about London. I have never ever had someone ask me about Rotherham...why ? ..because no one knows it and no one wants to know it apart from the tiny % of people unlucky enough to live there.

London or Rotherham ? ...No contest , give me the petrol bombs and raw sewage every single time....so PLLLLLARRRPPPPP (thats me blowing a raspberry)

 

[watatoad]

By a bridge over the Suffolk Stour in Sudbury Suffolk there is a sign warning that the water is contaminated with raw sewerage and not to bathe in it.

 

[thames steve]

The water in some of the Thames tributaries is considered 'clean' and the rivers are definitely thriving.

I will say, the fish seem to be doing OK in it but in fact, that water is approximately 67% treated sewage.

At least it's treated. The stuff going directly in the Thames is raw and untreated.

 

[Paul Boote]

I have never ever had someone ask me about Rotherham...why ? ..because no one knows it and no one wants to know it apart from the tiny % of people unlucky enough to live there.

Now then, now then, we mustn't be too rude about Rotherham, for it was, after all, when I was a lad, the home of a would-be / near-miss Miss England, a certain Miss Pamela Wood (or Woods), aka "The Christmas Tree" (as an early teenage me called her), who Christmas-ed every year with her indulging businessman Dad and ambitious Mum in the late 1960s at a once-grand and fast-fading hotel in Bournemouth. First full make-up job, false eyelashes, mini with 4-inch heels at the breakfast table in a hotel dining-room I had ever seen - for a thirteen-year-old me she was a case "OMG! I don't believe this..." but still semi-fatal attraction.

 

[tuolumne fisher]

I am led to believe that every water company in england and wales is exempt from the freedom of information request
if you want it to change, you gotta get proactive and publicise the pollutions etc
yesterday the TAC had a boat with a 10 ft x4ft banner shadowing walliams on the thames, they only made it to kew because the wind made it unsafe, but every little bit helps

 

[fishface1]

Mr Mushroom - you are correct. FOI does not extend to the utilities at the moment. Might change soon.

Mr Toad - are you sure it said raw sewerage? (unless you are American sewerage is the pipes and pumps, sewage is the brown stuff!)

A number of local authorities have designated inland "beaches" on waterways and water quality sampling is carried out. If this is downstream of a sewage works (most are!) they often put up signs warning people of the risk of viruses, e. coli and other bacteria which pass through a treatment plant. Very few STWs have ultrafiltration or UV treatment to remove bacteria/virus as it is expensive....

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

Oh dear, take a look at this Ron.

 

[watatoad]

Oh dear, take a look at this Ron.

Now if that does not bring the Otter lovers out in fury nothing will, but only anglers seem to give a monkeys about the fish and general environment. Which is why they only mention fish.

 

[stu_the_blank]

if you want it to change, you gotta get proactive and publicise the pollutions etc

You are spot on Jim. Most people, including anglers, have no idea what is legally being dumped into our rivers, let alone illegally.

Strange river the Trent, it seems to have cleaned from the tidal backwards! The top end has been badly polluted for a long time as I recall, I suppose that the pollution must be diluted as it flows downstream.

Thames is the reverse, the sewage in the Tideway is a disgrace and a perfectly legal one.

The Tideway Tunnel needs your support, I don't suppose that Thames Water will shed many tears if Nimby's on the route force them to delay or abandon it. They will just continue to dump the excess in the River and pocket the dosh. As I alluded to in my previous post, you can only wipe out all living organisms once, after that a dead river has none of the tell tale corpses! That is where a large part of the Tideway is right now.

Toad, I suspect that most Otter lovers would assume that Otters will adopt a Vegan lifestyle, they haven't shown a great deal of common sense so far in matching food to animal!

Stu

 

[dezza]

btw I also take exception when someone calls my hometown a **** heap ! ...I speak to allot of foreign people and I can honestly say that 99% of the time if they ask about the UK they ask about London. I have never ever had someone ask me about Rotherham...why ? ..because no one knows it and no one wants to know it apart from the tiny % of people unlucky enough to live there.

Oh we are getting touchy aren't we? Personally I couldn't care a toss what people think of Rotherham. At least we are not overpopulated and we have one of the largest Metropolitan Borough Councils in terms of rural area in the UK.

And yesturday I smiled as I drove through some of the most exquisite countryside in England on my way back to Rotherham from Blyth on the A1, most of it in the Rotherham MBC.

---------- Post added at 10:06 ---------- Previous post was at 09:40 ----------

Rotherham, a town of 118,000 people, once had a population of close on 150,000. It's been dropping steadily during the past 10 years, mainly because of the decline in local traditional industries such as steel and coal mining.

As a result we have some of the lowest prices in the general commodity range in the country. Houses also go for a song.

One thing we do not have is an overloaded sewage system. The River Don, especially in the upper and lower reaches has some superb fishing. The Rother is arguably the best dace river in the country and improves all the time.

The Wentworth valley has Wentworth House, one of England's grandest stately homes.

 

[Philip]

Rotherham, a town of 118,000 people, once had a population of close on 150,000. It's been dropping steadily during the past 10 years, mainly because of the decline in local traditional industries such as steel and coal mining. As a result we have some of the lowest prices in the general commodity range in the country. Houses also go for a song. One thing we do not have is an overloaded sewage system. The River Don, especially in the upper and lower reaches has some superb fishing. The Rother is arguably the best dace river in the country and improves all the time. The Wentworth valley has Wentworth House, one of England's grandest stately homes.

Yes...but its still,well, ...Rotherham..


As for over loaded sewage systems I would suggest there is more than enough "sewage" spewing from certain parts of Rotherham to overflow ANY sewer system...Ron...:wh