Medway Polution

[LenT]

I went out yesterday to enjoy the weather with a very pleasant sail down the Medway. Over the past few years, like many others I have noticed an increase in the amount of surface scum in the river. Yesterday was particularly bad, the eddie line at the Dartnett Ness Fort was holding large amounts of scum that looked more like untreated sewage.

I recall discussions about water quality testing and plans to stop the increasing number of liveaboards discharging waste into the river. Does anyone know of any progress in this area?

 

[oldgit]

I went out yesterday to enjoy the weather with a very pleasant sail down the Medway. Over the past few years, like many others I have noticed an increase in the amount of surface scum in the river. Yesterday was particularly bad, the eddie line at the Dartnett Ness Fort was holding large amounts of scum that looked more like untreated sewage.

I recall discussions about water quality testing and plans to stop the increasing number of liveaboards discharging waste into the river. Does anyone know of any progress in this area?

At MSBA meeting some while ago the subject was raised.The difficulty appears to be finding out who can do something about it.
Neither Peel Ports or the EA appear to accept they are the first port of call to sort out the problem.
It is only going to get worse as the number of livaboards at that site increases.
Hooness sailing club seems to get the worst of it.

 

[Keith 66]

If its any consolation we get similar on the north side of the Thames, not just sewerage though, i flagged up a large amount of garbage in Benfleet creek nearly two weeks ago, literally hundreds of black sacks full of domestic garbage mixed in with trade waste all embedded inthe bottom of the creek recently. It appears to be coming from further up the creek from 2 enclaves of houseboats above the Bridge onto Canvey, i notified PLA, Envivonment agency, Natural England & the Council.
As yet nobody has bothered to even come & look. Time to poke them all again & go to the local paper.
On the bright side the PLA by law prohibiting sewage discharge including houseboats comes in next January.
If it gets enforced i shall be surprised.

 

[Actionmat]

Forget liveaboards, there is no bigger polluter than thames water.

http://www.thamestidewaytunnel.co.u.../01/59611062-P1-Customer-Overview-Leaflet.pdf

39 million tons of raw sewage dumped in the Thames annually. Nice.

I wonder how many times I've done the right thing and paid the EA for a pump out, only for Thames Water to chuck it back in the river again when nobody's looking?

 

[oldgit]

I wonder how many times I've done the right thing and paid the EA for a pump out, only for Thames Water to chuck it back in the river again when nobody's looking?

 

[lenten]

reading the files of the thames conservancy many years ago--their river purification inspectors were trying hard to catch a bucket and chuckit boat in kingston whilst an expanding town up river ---(to preserve its anonomity i will call it Reeding)---- whose sewage works could not cope and needed upgrading----the sewage discharge samples consistently failed to meet standards---i used to wonder what was worse---one mans bucket or millions of gallons of substandard effluent

 

[tony_lavelle]

Yes the MSBA has been pursuing the sewage problem with Peel Ports and the EA. The harbour authority are (to put it politely) slow to act but may eventually take the same line as the PLA. However the EA have, to our surprise, offered to include known sewage hotspots in their regular sampling programme. Reading Shane Spall's "Voyages of Princess Matilda" (as seen on TV) recently I was amused that Timothy Spall referred to a certain riverside village as "Poo St Turdburgh!"