A NEW survey has named the UK’s 10 most toxic rivers – and the Mersey at Warrington is not one of them.
Which is rather surprising, really, because back in May, we reported on research by the Wildlife and Countryside Link and The Rivers Trust which named the Mersey above Howley Weir as the most chemically polluter river in England.
Had our river suddenly become free of pollution? Unfortunately not. The explanation is that the data collected has been collected from different sources.
The new research is based on data from The Angling Trust, supported by Sportfish, a leading supplier of game and fly-fishing products, and collected by members of the angling community and trusted partners.
A spokesperson said: “The data takes into consideration a number of metrics, not all chemical – electrical conductivity; temperature; phosphate level; nitrate level; ammonia level; presence of algae; and the presence of visible pollution. “
The study looked at the 15 largest rivers for which up-to-date data was available from the Water Quality Monitoring Network – a data collection initiative launched in 2022 by the Angling Trust, supported by Sportwish. The funding is b acked by fellow game fishing brand Orvis UK, providing data for, and relying upon the angling community to inform on river health and pollution.
No data was available on the Mersey – although parts of the Mersey are popular for fishing.
The spokesperson added: “Sportfish encourage local anglers to get involved in the initiative and submit readings to the network each time they fish, to ensure data remains up to date and water quality can be closely monitored in as many rivers as possible.
“ This way, rivers across the UK can be monitored to determine pollution levels, ecological health and decline, using the data to foresee potential problems that may arise for fish populations as well as the communities in the catchment.”
So which is the most toxic river?
The Great Ouse – which supplies drinking water to Bedford, Huntingdon and Cambridge.
The others, from the top, are The Avon, the Nene, the Severn, the Trent, the Terne, the Thames, the Ouse, the Don and the Ribble.
Simon Tilbury, head of marketing for Sportfish and Farlows, said, “In 1957 scientists from the Natural History Museum declared the River Thames ‘biologically dead.’ Unless the government takes water pollution seriously and acts sooner rather than later, this latest data suggests our rivers will soon all be toxic soup.”
