Silence isn’t golden

In December 2021 CCW carried out research into how the public in England and Wales perceive river health and causes of pollution.

Given this was at the end of 12 months in which the sector had been battered by (often inaccurate) reports on the use of combined sewer overflows (CSO), it is unsurprising that awareness of CSOs through media coverage had grown since the previous survey in May.

By December 52% of people said they had seen in the press that water companies use CSOs – up from 41% in May; 46% of respondents had seen media reports that “water companies pump untreated sewage into rivers without permits” – a rise of 12% in just eight months.

But at the same time the number of people who had read or watched reports about the work water companies were carrying out to improve and maintain infrastructure to reduce river pollution actually fell. By December 33% of people were aware of news stories about such investments being made, down 1%. Admittedly this is not a great fall but balanced against the rising perceptions of water companies as the main contributor to pollution, it is a worrying sign.

When the Environment Act passed into law, Luke Pollard, while still in his role as shadow environment minister, told Utility Week the water sector needed to “put its head above the parapet” to make the case for the investments required to reduce sewage discharges or risk being blamed for lack of action.

The research by CCW could be seen a vindication of this view – a result of not enough noise being generated about the work already underway to invest in sewage treatment and improve rivers and streams. The majority of companies have their own dedicated action plans to improve the waterways that are their lifeblood but all that hard work is going largely unnoticed.

Former punk turned environmental crusader Feargal Sharkey set his sights on the Environment Agency and water companies beginning with a barrage of critical Tweets whenever he saw a waterway looking any less than its best. The keen angler has appeared on various webinars and TV shows speaking out against the regulators and the regulated. The attention sparked other fishing fanatics and river users to similarly share images and reports of polluted rivers and streams that contributed to national outrage. As the narrative was being highjacked, the billions of pounds being spent on restoring rivers, on boosting biodiversity, on improvements to wastewater treatment plants was overlooked.

Pollution from agriculture, roads and industry outstrips that from wastewater treatment but in the public’s eyes there is one cause. Water companies have become an easy scapegoat for pollution.

Silence isn’t golden and this should be a wake-up call that this issue is rapidly rising up the public agenda –  but they’re only hearing one side. It’s time to shout from every rooftop about the work being done.