All language subtitles for Swimming.In.Sewage.Britains.Water.Scandal.2023.1080p.WEB.H264-CBFM

MICHAELA STRACHAN: Over the last
few months,

you may well have heard that sewage

is being regularly pumped
into our rivers.

And, like me, thought, "Really?

"Are our waterways really
polluted by sewage?"

You can see the solids in the water,
the little bits of human waste.

Oh, that is revolting.

The soft sediment
underneath your feet,

I think you can probably imagine
what it's made up of.

Oh, gosh. Honestly,
just don't touch anything, hey?

But that's disgusting. Surely,
somebody's doing something about it?

After an afternoon swimming
in the Medway,

12 out of 13 people in our group
were really quite violently ill.

I vomited six times.

So, how bad is the problem?

And what are these campaigners
campaigning for?

Someone could die from
the water quality worsening.

Not just here,
but across this country.

It is an environmental catastrophe

and, if it's not stopped,
it will just get worse and worse.

I've filmed a lot of wildlife
in and around rivers

and things had improved,
but it seems not any more.

Thank God we don't have to
live in that water.

So, what can be done?

Well, I'm going on
a journey to find out.

I'm starting my travels in
the Yorkshire Dales.

The River Wharfe passes through

some of Britain's prettiest villages
and towns.

Our rivers are precious habitats
and vital ecosystems,

important for wildlife
and a pleasure for us.

On summer days, people enjoy
swimming, paddling, boating

and generally messing about on the
river is great for our well-being.

Today, I'm joining a hardy group,
the Ilkley swimmers.

This is the River Wharfe
in Ilkley in Yorkshire,

it's a popular bathing spot,
it's where this group...

Hello!

..like to go
for their pre-breakfast swim.

OK, guys, is it cold?

THEY LAUGH
"No, no," they say!

Don't put your head in, Michaela.

I brought my goggles,
are we not swimming properly?

No, the flow's not great.

If you're really lucky,
you might see a kingfisher.

Now, you're exciting me!

Yes, yes.

Come on, Owen!

Oh!
Oof!

Definitely does make you feel good,
a nice cold-water swim, doesn't it?

It does.
I think sometimes you just need it.

You, sort of, feel a bit stressed
from the day and you just think,

"Actually, if I get in the river,
it centres you."

And it calms you down
and it's lovely.

So, when did you start noticing,
then,

that things were changing
and it was becoming quite polluted?

So, a friend of mine got in touch
with me and said, you know,

"You know how to campaign, Becky,
we've got a problem."

And I said,
"Well, what's the problem?"

And she said, "Well, there's
just masses of raw sewage

"being discharged into the river."

I said, "Are you having a laugh,
what do you mean?"

I said, "well, how masses?
Let's have a look."

And when we worked it out,
we had a look at how often it

was being discharged. It turned out
it's about a third of the year

there's raw sewage being
discharged into our river.

Completely unaware.

Cos you can't see it
unless you look for it.

You can see it downstream,
so, by the sewage treatment works,

where the big storm overflow is,
that's the pipe where you can

put raw sewage into
the river when it rains.

We thought,
under exceptional circumstances,

but it turns out, here,
8mm of rain triggers it.

And then you can see it,
it's like a brown sludge

and all the ducks head there,
so you know something's happening.

Have people got ill?

Yeah, we've had kids in
the local hospital on a drip,

missing their GCSEs.
So, the local kids go downstream,

further down here,
where they can't be seen,

cos they want a bit of privacy

and they wanna muck around with
their friends

and they play and swim in
the river down there.

And that's really
what got us involved in this,

because we thought,
"Well, not only is there sewage

"going in the river,
but we know our local kids -

"and visitors who don't know
anything about the river -

"go down there to paddle
and play and swim."

And so we've got, potentially,
visitors with young kids

and little fishing nets and,
you know, little swimming rings

and stuff getting into the river
there. I mean, that's horrific.

I mean, it's incredibly shocking,
because you would have thought,

particularly now with all
our health and safety regulations,

that if the water was that bad
and actually dangerous

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

..there would be a big sign saying,
"Don't swim here."

Recently, the council has installed
signs along one part of the river,

but for the Ilkley swimmers,
these are still insufficient.

You know, the British public uses
the river in the summer,

always has done. Packs a picnic,
fishing nets, "Off we go!"

It's something
that everybody can do,

and, of course,
everybody expects to be able to.

So, people have no idea
this is actually an open drain.

Yorkshire Water told us...

So, if you're wondering where all
this sewage is coming from,

it's called a CSO,
a combined sewer overflow

for rainwater and sewage.

CSOs are a necessary evil,
developed to prevent sewage

backing up into people's homes
in heavy rain.

But many campaigners around
the country claim that these CSOs

are spilling waste into rivers
far too often,

even when there's little
or no rain.

Just imagine if you came here
for a picnic with your family,

no idea that you're next to
a sewage treatment centre

on a day that they're letting out
all the untreated sewage

and your kids are playing
in this river and paddling.

It's basically like...

well, paddling in your toilet.
I mean, it's disgusting.

Next, we meet someone who films
in rivers

to find out what really lies beneath
the surface.

Oh, that is revolting.

I'm on a journey around
the UK to understand

the scandal of our polluted rivers.

It's thanks to
the public campaigning about it

that we've been made aware of
the scale of the problem.

I'm in Yorkshire to meet
Mark Barrow,

an underwater photographer
who was so upset by

the pollution he witnessed, that
he started posting regularly about

the state of his local waterway.

I mean, you're filming in there,

so you must have seen all sorts
of disgusting stuff in the water.

Yeah, literally everything
that's flushed down the toilet.

This is a typical sewage
discharge going into the river

from a combined sewer overflow.

And, in it, will contain everything
that's flushed down the toilet,

despite the fact that they say that
they are actually taken out,

so, you'll have everything
from Tampax to wipes,

sanitary waste,
but obviously human solids, as well.

And, again,
this is another discharge.

Going on directly straight into
the river.

And 30 years ago, how often would
you have seen that sort of stuff?

Very rare. It would only actually
happen when there was an extreme,

heavy rainfall event. But I am now
filming sewage discharges

in minimal rainfall or dry weather,
when it shouldn't even be going on.

And that is during a discharge

when I decided to actually get in
to actually see what...

Well, why would you want to see
what a discharges look like?

Yeah, are you mad?

No, no, no-one needs to see
a sanitary towel in the water.

But I mean you can see
the solids in the water, as well.

Oh, is that what that is?

Yeah. Yeah, they're little bits
of human waste.

Oh, that is revolting.

Yes, yes.

People need to know.

You know, I've spent half my life
filming in rivers.

I mean, you would not advise anyone
to get in

that part of that river
in their trunks?

No, I wouldn't even get in
with a wetsuit.

So I've always got my dry suit on,
I'm fully covered.

You must have noticed
a decline in wildlife generally?

Yeah, certainly, 30 years ago...

Cos we've always had otters on
the river at Wetherby

in the River Wharfe.

There's certainly not as many
as what they used to be.

And obviously what's going on with
the rivers is having

a massive impact,
even the river flies,

there's now sections of the river

which are literally
completely void of life.

Cos all of that sewage stuff
cannot be good for any wildlife.

It doesn't have a choice,
it has to live in the river.

Yeah, I mean, this is their home
and this is how we're treating it.

And, ultimately,
what happens with our rivers

has an impact on our seas
and oceans, this is the start of it.

So we need to get this sorted.

Mark, how has it been allowed
to get this bad so quickly?

I mean, just ten, 15 years ago,

we were celebrating our rivers
being clean.

So, what's happened,
why has it gone so wrong?

I think that
the increase in population,

the towns have grown,

some of the new housing estates
around here,

their front gardens
are all tarmacked over,

so, there's more rainwater
going down the drains.

And the regulator's
not regulating enough,

to be quite honest and, basically,

the water companies and government
are turning a blind eye.

It does. I'm fuming.

Yeah. Because I know what this could
be like and, unfortunately,

it is way off the mark.

The Environment Agency told us...

I've come to Surrey
to see a chalk stream.

This type of unique waterway
is characterised by clear water,

rich in minerals and attracts
a diversity of flora and fish.

There are only 210 in the world
and the UK has 150 of them.

So if anywhere promises clean,
safe water, this is it.

Chris Gardner from
the South East Rivers Trust

is going to show me around Hogsmill,
near Ewell.

This is a chalk stream habitat,
quite a small river channel,

lots of marginal vegetation
for cover for, you know,

mammals and birds and vertebrates.

It is, yes. You can see

and it's a
very clean-looking stream.

Yes, that's right.

The water's very clear here,
and, you know,

this water has come up from springs
from the chalk, chalk aquifer,

and has been filtered for, you know,
potentially years as it slowly flows

through that chalk, so the water
quality will be really, really high.

And so the wildlife
and aquatic ecology that's adapted

to live in chalk streams,
you know, is quite unique.

DOG BARKS

So I guess that's
the chalk stream, then?

That's right, yeah, so this is
the upper Hogsmill River,

this is the confluence
with the Green Lanes stream,

which is a much more
surface-drained water body and,

upstream of here,
there are some CSO discharges.

We had some overnight rain
last night,

and the discharges aren't
taking place at the moment,

but they did discharge last night

and you can see the difference in
the clarity of the water.

That is amazing, actually, Chris,
cos you really can, can't you?

I mean, that's clear and, so,
you're saying that

the overflow pipe is further up,
meets this river and,

Yeah, exactly.

There's an overflow pipe
further upstream,

there's also one downstream.
That's the one we can go

Yes, that's right, yeah.

OK, let's wade along
and go and take a look at it.

Hopefully, it's not flowing today.
HE CHUCKLES

The sewage pipe,
or CSO as it's called,

is one of 15,000 in England.

In 2021, these discharged
for 2.5 million hours

into our rivers and seas.

Yes.

You can really smell it,
Chris, and there it is.

That's the storm drain...
Oh, gosh. Oh, it stinks.

Are you OK?

I mean, how disgusting is this water
that we are standing in right now

if that did discharge last night?

Yeah, I mean, it's...

Well, the soft... The soft sediment
underneath your feet,

I think you can probably imagine
what it's made up of.

Oh, gosh, thank goodness for
these waders, honestly.

Yeah.

Do you think that overflowed
last night?

Well, it certainly smells like it
and there's certainly, sort of,

fresh debris on the screen and
the bits of twig there.

You can see bits of wet wipes
and things like that and

the storm tanks themselves have
a screen before they go in there,

so that's obviously bits of...

Sort of, small bits of debris
that have made it through

the first screen and have just
got snagged on the outside.

I mean, it is so disgusting,
isn't it, to think that that is...?

I mean, for all intents
and purposes,

Yeah.

..on a regular basis.
What do you think should happen?

Well, we need to invest in
our sewage infrastructure.

You know,
we've had the past few decades where

we haven't had
the necessary investment for

the sewage works infrastructure to
keep up with the population growth.

And we also have, you know...

We also have climate change impacts,
as well.

So, we have more intense rainfall.

Chris, those sewage works have
been around since the Victorian era.

You know, a lot of building
has gone on top of them.

So, how possible is it to just
dig them up and make this better?

There's certainly technical
challenges involved, you know.

And, as you say, a lot of
the infrastructure goes back to

Victorian times and there is
a big technical challenge.

But, you know, we put people on
the moon with

the computing power of a pocket
calculator 50 years ago,

so, surely we can upgrade
our sewage works to

the standard that they should be
and were originally designed to be.

The thought of all that
basically raw sewage

pumping out of here into what was
a gorgeous river.

And, you know, I met a local
just now whose dog was swimming here

and told him what was going on,
he was completely unaware.

And he said that would explain
why so many dog owners

that he's met over recent years say
their dogs have got skin problems.

And these are dogs that
regularly swim in all this sewage.

And he said, "Why on earth aren't
there signs up to warn people?"

I mean, why aren't there?
It's mad, isn't it?

The whole thing's just mad.

And it gets worse.

It's a real danger to our health.

The Ames family went for a picnic
by the River Medway

in an area supposed to be
for families and water sports.

You guys, as a family,
have really suffered the effects

of pollution in the river,
haven't you?

Absolutely, it's something
we didn't really think about

before we went for a swim.

Obviously, you know that rivers
may not be perfectly clean,

but for 12 out of 13 people
in our group

to be really quite violently ill

after an afternoon swimming in
the Medway was pretty horrific,

really, with one of those people
ending up in hospital.

Did you do any tests
to prove that it was the water

and not a summer bug?

There's no way it could be
anything other than the water.

That was the one common factor.

All children from the families,
all five children, within 24 hours,

were vomiting and diarrhoea.
And, through the course of the week,

everybody just toppled
like dominoes.

And had very similar symptoms.

The only common factor was
the river.

Yeah, we all ate different food,
actually, cos we just brought

our own picnics to the river, so we
knew it definitely couldn't be that.

And how ill were you all?

I vomited six times, my friend
had to miss her last day of school,

cos she was so ill

and one of my dad's friends
got put in hospital.

I was nauseous for a week.

For a week, so, I was wiped out
from work for a couple or so days,

but felt really grotty for a week.

Before this happened to you,

No.

I think that, you know,
we've always thought about,

you know, the rivers could have
run off from the fields,

there could be things in the river
from the animals that are there,

but not raw sewage. And actually,
even the treated sewage,

as the Environment Agency have
confirmed to me,

isn't suitable for contact
with humans, even though it's out,

continuously being pumped into
the river day in, day out.

And also, you feel reassured by

the fact that there's infrastructure
there for the stand-up paddlers,

the canoers and so on.

They've built stuff there,
so that they can use the water,

so you think, "Well, they're not
necessarily just gonna stay

"on those things, they may fall in
the water, so it must be safe."

What do you think should happen?

Well, I think it's really simple.

There shouldn't be unsafe waste

legally put into the rivers,
full stop.

And whilst there is unsafe waste
and sewage

being put into the rivers,
there needs to be very,

very clear communication
to everybody who uses those rivers.

And when you've got infrastructure
to support kayaking,

stand-up paddle boarders,
even if the Environment Agency say

it's not a designated swimming area,
it absolutely is an area

for water recreation
and those users need to be aware.

Will you guys ever swim in
the river again?

No.
No.

Definitely not.
Definitely not.

We had the best day,
it was so sunny,

we had so much fun together,
but it's not worth the risk.

Those rivers are full of sewage.

Next, I discover that
the Lake District,

one of the most-visited
tourist attractions in the UK,

has also become a victim of sewage.

Teesside,
in the north-east of England.

It's an area well known
for its long, industrial heritage.

Iron and steel industries began here
in the early 19th century.

It's also known as a centre
for chemical manufacturing

and, for decades, there have been
claims of heavy pollution

and poor water quality along this
stretch of the north-east coast

as a toxic legacy
of those industries.

But, recently, things came to a head

when around 1,000 locals
from coastal communities

along Teesside gathered on
the beach to protest about

what they claim is
an environmental catastrophe.

Reclaim our seas!
Reclaim our seas!

Reclaim our seas!
Reclaim our seas!

Wave, everybody!

In October 2021,
large numbers of dead crabs

and lobsters washed ashore on
the Tees estuary.

Local fisherman, Stan Rennie,
has fished along the Tees Bay

since he was 13 years old.

I've fished this area for 48 years.

One of the richest places for
shell fish stocks and marine life.

We haven't overfished it,
we've fished it responsibly.

We've returned berried hens
for years,

we've looked after the stock,

and on the 25th September
last year,

my catches fell off a cliff.
Absolutely heartbreaking.

When you're getting
everything washed up on

the beaches from sea anemones,
worms, crabs, lobsters, porpoises,

seals, everything you can think of.

Stan suspects something lethal to
marine life contaminated

the Tees estuary.

It was just a mass die out,
it was an extension,

we just didn't know
what was going on

and it wasn't until a couple of
months later that we clicked that,

at the same time this happened,

The Orca started dredging
the mouth of the Tees,

248,000 ton of sediment in ten days.

Widened the channel a bit,
deepened the channel a bit,

that sediment is from the cesspit of
the industrial revolution.

The River Tees, God knows
what chemicals are in there.

It's this dredging
that's worrying locals.

Teesside is being prepared to be
the biggest free port in the UK.

It's one of eight to come.

It will provide thousands of jobs
and a boost to the economy.

But it also means deep dredging
of sediment on

the seabed to enable large container
ships to dock in a newly-built quay.

Local campaigner Sally Bunce,

who organised
the Wave For Our Seas protest,

suspects there may be a connection
between dredging and

the mortality of marine life,

including seal pups
along beaches in this area.

So, Michaela, this is one of
the many common seal pups

that we've had wash up on our
shores on the north-east coast.

You know, seal pups obviously die
every year, it's not uncommon,

however, the volume of seal pups
which die here

is above what we get in
other parts of the country.

We had guillemots washed up dead
on the beaches around September time

and, again, dredging occurred,
very deep dredging,

around the time of all
this happening.

These are all of our waters.

You know, and the poor creatures
that are trying to live in them.

Thank God we don't have to
live in that water.

You know, we absolutely understand
the importance of the free port

and what it's going to do
for this area.

It's going to provide,
you know, jobs for people,

the steelworks have gone and
a lot of it is renewable energies

that are gonna be built here,
which is absolutely amazing.

You know, but it has to be done with
the environment at

the forefront of how it goes ahead.

You know, cos if we do
destroy our environment,

it's hypocritical
to produce renewable energy,

if we've destroyed
the environment to do that.

So, yes, we do want this to happen

and we do want the regeneration
of industry in our area,

but it's got to be sympathetic to
the actual natural environment, too.

SEAL SQUEAKS

Stan and his fellow fishermen
approached

the universities of York,
Hull and Newcastle for help.

Dr Gary Caldwell examined crabs
from the Tees estuary

to see if any chemicals
were present.

Specifically, in terms of the Tees,

it's had such a long and deep
industrial heritage,

big, heavy industries
that will have polluted.

Dumped effluent into it
with no regulation.

And the curious thing,
scientifically,

about a lot of these pollutants
is that,

once they go in the sediment,

once they get locked away
from being exposed to oxygen,

they're there for the long term
and they just hide in there.

And the risk is,
if they become disturbed,

if they get returned back into
the water,

and then other animals,
other organisms,

can be re-exposed to them...

The best way to think about
that sediment

is like a chemical cocktail.
There will be tens,

maybe even 100 chemicals in there
that potentially will be toxic

and we have only focused in on
the one, a chemical called pyridine.

The reason why we've focused
on pyridine

was because when the dead crabs were
analysed for different chemicals,

the amount of pyridine
found in the crabs was so big,

compared to what you'd expect
to find,

that it just leapt out there is a
candidate that could not be ignored.

Pyridine is a chemical
which was produced in

the Teesside area historically.

It's used in the manufacture
of weedkiller and pesticides.

As a scientist,
what we can say for sure

is that pyridine
was categorically present

and still is present in
the Tees sediment.

University of York have measured it,
we know how much was there.

We know how much the dredger moved
and transported off sea.

DEFRA appointed a panel of
independent experts to investigate.

They were...

They said that...

The fact that such a large
section of coastline was affected,

but not a wider range of species
makes it...

They concluded...

On my journey so far,
I've visited rivers and seas

and I've been shocked
at what I've seen.

Now, I'm heading to a UNESCO World
Heritage site, the Lake District.

One of the most beautiful places in
the UK.

And England's largest national park.

It's a place of nature trails,
farmlands, hills,

rivers and 16 lakes.

It's also one of
the most-visited areas,

drawing close to 16 million people
each year.

Lake Windermere
in the Lake District,

this absolutely glorious setting,

has been the inspiration
for Romantic poets like Wordsworth

and famous children's books like
the tales of Beatrix Potter,

which just happens to be
one of my favourites.

These days, of course,
it's well known for a tourist spot,

where people come
and they boat and they swim

and generally enjoy
messing about on the water.

Sounds idyllic, doesn't it?

Or is it?

As the largest natural lake
in England,

Windermere has numerous rivers
that flow directly into it.

Environmentalists have recently
been posting on social media about

sewage going from these rivers
into Lake Windermere.

Saying this could be a health risk
for humans and fish.

Local zoologist and campaigner,
Matt Staniek, is here to show me

what a healthy river
should look like.

So, right now, Michaela,

we are above
Ambleside Wastewater Treatment Works

and we're below
Grasmere Wastewater Treatment Works,

so, we still get things here
like dippers,

and that means that
the invertebrates are here

for them to feed on.
And, now, we'll head further down

and I'll show you a river
that's really, really enriched.

So, this... I mean,
it looks beautiful, doesn't it?

Yeah, no, to the eye, it is.

It's always a sign of
a healthy river

if you catch sight of birds
like dippers,

as they feed on invertebrates
and can only thrive in clean water.

Matt, you've lived here
all your life,

you used to play in this river.

How much has it changed
in just your lifetime?

You know, this is the reason
I started the campaign,

was this river here,
right in front of us.

I just saw a decline of it
through the last three years.

But when I was a kid coming here,
you'd walk into the water,

you know, you'd struggle to walk
across the stones,

but then you'd be met around
your feet by hundreds of fish,

and they'd be
nibbling at your feet,

you'd be then walking through
aquatic plants.

So, I've brought you down to...

We're actually further down
from where we saw the dipper

and, as you can see,
we're now right in front of

the storm overflow pipe,
which is marked on

the Environment Agency's permit.

So, this pipe here, in essence,
discharges sewage into that river.

So, basically, the quality of the
water gets a lot worse from here on.

Yeah, so, above this pipe,
you get the dippers.

Below this pipe,
you don't get the dippers.

It's really
quite as clear-cut as that.

No!

..crouch down here,
knowing what comes out of there!

OK, let's go further on.

Algae, dense levels of tiny,
green plants,

is something we may be used to
seeing on

the surface of lakes and rivers.
But algal bloom is different.

It's a toxic form of algae,

threatening health
and biodiversity in Windermere.

So, we are now downstream of that
pipe that I just showed you

and this is, you know,
the result of all this sewage

that's going into Windermere.

On the river itself,
it shows in a different way

to actually in the lake and what we
see in the impact of the river is...

If I grab one of these rocks,
can you see that slime?

Oh, it's covered in slime, isn't it?

It sits all on top of the rock
and this is the big problem.

It's these algal blooms within
the river that creates

a depletion of oxygen within
the water.

So this, historically,
is an Atlantic salmon spawning site.

So, the fish were to come up here

and they try to lay their eggs
onto the water.

One, you get the physical barrier of
the algae that sits on

the substrate and, two, if the eggs
were lucky enough to get in

and amongst the rocks,
the algae then takes

the oxygen away from the eggs
and they're likely not to hatch

and that's just the fish themselves.

You know, you have the impacts of
the algae on the invertebrates,

which is the fish food.

So, as you said,
this goes into the lake.

All of the water within this
catchment goes into Windermere Lake

and, for sewage, that now
is sitting in Windermere,

creating all of these algal blooms,

through the nutrient
that is phosphorus.

So, if it carries on,
how bad will that be for the lake?

Well, on Windermere, we see these
big blue-green algal blooms,

it then, again, similar principle,

it takes the oxygen out of
the water, which then kills fish.

You know, this is a finite resource,
freshwater,

and it's not being looked after
by the government

and we are now paying
the price for it.

You know, what is going to happen
to Windermere?

And no-one knows,
that's the problem.

Because not enough is being done
to protect this and understand it.

Why are we letting that happen?

Well, I don't know,
this is the thing.

This is what I can't understand.

Why are we seeing sewage within
the national park

discharged into
its lakes and rivers?

It's called the Lake District,
it's named after the water

which brings millions upon millions
of people here every single year.

And we're not protecting it,
we are not standing up and saying,

"Actually, no, we shouldn't have

"any sewage discharged
into these rivers."

And it's like, "What do we pay
our water bill for?"

You know,
since the start of privatisation,

it's been £72 billion
paid to shareholders in dividends.

And that has not been reinvested
into the infrastructure

and that's why we're seeing sewage
still discharged

in 2022 into Windermere Lake.

The local water company,
United Utilities, told us...

As I meet more people on my journey,
I'm realising how much we need

and depend on the public
to raise awareness

of what is going on
in our environment.

It seems we can't wait for
the government to take action.

Well, what an amazingly
passionate campaigner Matt is.

And he's angry
and who can blame him?

I mean, can you imagine
if I suddenly squatted here

and took a dump in this lake?

People would be outraged.
And rightly so.

But that is happening
on a much bigger scale

and we should all be
really outraged by that.

A lot of pollution in the waterways
is difficult to see

if you've got an untrained eye,

but some of it is just
a visual nightmare.

This is known as Wet Wipe Island
and it's on the Thames,

just underneath Hammersmith Bridge
and it's basically made up...

..of discarded wet wipes.

And, let me tell you,
it is revolting.

The Thames runs for 210 miles

and passes through some of England's
most scenic villages.

It's gone through many rebirths
in its long evolution.

In Victorian times, it was a vast,
foul-smelling drain,

with no oxygen, or life.

But thanks to the introduction of
better sewage systems in the '60s

and the work of
the Environment Agency,

it recovered and it's home to
125 species of fish.

But, today, a new environmental
disaster is affecting it - plastics.

So, this just looks like mud here,

but it's actually where
the Wet Wipe Island is. Oh, my word.

It's about 1.4m deep
and it's two tennis court size,

or bigger,
that they have found here.

I've come to meet Fleur Anderson,
Labour MP for Putney,

who's trying to introduce a bill

to end the sale of wet wipes
containing plastic.

It's so full of wet wipes,
but, look here,

you can just see on the surface.

Look at that. You pull that,
that looks like a rope,

or something.

It's actually just wet wipes.

So, it's just wet wipes
all attached to each other.

And, because they are
made of plastic, which...

You never think that wet wipes
are really made of plastic,

but they are a single-use plastic,

they stick together and,
you can see the wet wipe there,

you can see how it's not even
disintegrating if I pull it.

And this will be here for hundreds,
if not thousands of years.

So, Fleur, is this because people
are flushing them down the toilet,

or is this because sewage
is being leaked into the Thames?

Well, it's both.

To start with, people shouldn't
flush wet wipes down the toilet.

And then it shows that what
they're flushing down the toilet

is coming out here onto the Thames.

And if wet wipes are here,
we know what else must be here

and it's quite disgusting, isn't it?

an environmental catastrophe
for the river?

Absolutely, so, the plastic
in the wet wipes actually

absorbs the bacteria,
it's horrible for the environment,

dreadful for fish.
It goes out into the oceans,

taking all of that with them,
as well.

And it's changing
the course of the River Thames.

So the River Thames is actually
moving around this island.

It is an environmental catastrophe
and, if it's not stopped,

it will just get worse and worse.
Before COVID,

we were using 11-billion wet wipes
in this country a year.

That's gone up enormously,
so, it's got to be tackled,

otherwise there are going to be...

Islands like this are gonna just
be commonplace near everyone.

What do you want to see happen,
then?

I think it's really an easy action
that should be taken quite urgently

to stop things like this happening.

So, I want to go back to the source
and say to the producers

of these wet wipes
to stop making them from plastic.

There are alternatives available,
it's perfectly possible to swap

and lots are already,
but I think plastic in wet wipes

should be banned and that's my bill
that's going through Parliament.

This is actually really depressing.

I mean,
this is a first-world country

and we've got an island forming

on the banks of the River Thames
in the capital, London,

and it's made out of bacteria
and discarded wet wipes.

I mean, it's just depressing
and it's disgusting.

This summer, Water UK,

the body that represents the UK
water industry apologised, saying...

They announced they will spend
£10 billion on modernising sewers.

Launching an environmental hub
to give real-time information

on overflows,

and will support
up to 100 communities

to create new, protected waters
for swimming and recreation.

Our rivers and lakes are
a national treasure,

an irreplaceable natural resource.

We should be taking care of them.

Sometimes, it does seem like
it's not the people paid

the healthy salaries
that make the changes,

but those impressive campaigners

that are fuelled
just by their passion

and a sense of injustice
that force the change to happen.

And what they've taught me is that
action really can lead to change.

At the River Wharfe in Yorkshire,

Becky and the Ilkley
Clean River Group campaigned

and succeeded in getting bathing
status for one stretch of the river,

which means the Environment Agency

will have to do more
regular water testing.

So, we had around
500 people contribute to

our bathing status application.
We've got a lot of volunteers!

And, let's be clear,
whilst we're campaigning for Ilkley,

we're only doing it
as a case study for the country.

Because it's beautiful here
and we've, luckily,

got the resources in the town
to test the water,

to campaign,
to make it very obvious.

We're lucky we can do that here.

But we are doing it
on behalf the country.

This has inspired other groups
around the country

to campaign for their rivers
to be tested.

Activists like Mark
continue to document

the decline to raise awareness.

It's the same thing with rivers,
they're always overused,

overlooked and undervalued.

And it's on your doorstep
and they...

Literally, when I'm in the water,
it is magical.

You went to this world
which accepts you for who you are

and you become part of the flow

and you become part of
something absolutely magical.

And, in the Lake District,

Matt Staniek
is tirelessly monitoring

the health of Lake Windermere,

asking tough questions of regulators

as to why a lake so precious
is polluted.

I mean, look at this,
it's the jewel in the crown

of the national park.
England's largest lake.

And, on Teesside, Sally Bunce
is set to organise another series

of Reclaim Our Sea protests.

The overwhelming response we've had
of people saying

"We want to do this again,
we want to get involved

"and we're in the middle of
the country, what can we do?"

So we are going to roll
this out now around

the whole of the United Kingdom.

And we're going to have people
linking hands

and forming this chain
of solidarity along rivers,

cos all rivers lead to the sea.

And all the way around
the United Kingdom,

it doesn't matter if it's
three people on a beach,

or it's 1,000 people on a beach,

collectively,
it's a very powerful voice

and it's a very powerful
visual image.

And the support we're having
for this is just mind blowing.

Absolutely mind blowing.

We know that getting out into nature
improves our mental health.

Rivers are so precious, for us,
for wildlife and the ecosystem.

You might think
you can't make a difference,

but these campaigners have proved
that you can.

And things do have to change,

because it's not going to get
any better and it affects us all.

Quite frankly,
as I've discovered on this journey,

this is a really shitty, stinky mess
that needs to be cleared up.