UK River Report #16: Domestic Waste Disposal and River Thames' Restoration, Woeful South East Water and England's Fly-Tipping Epidemic

Welcome back dear reader to the sixteenth installment of the UK River Report. In this month's post, I shall discuss some of the issues with and solutions for inappropriate domestic waste disposal, the vast improvements in the health of the Thames since the 1950s, despite present day challenges, the untenable condition of South East Water and its CEO, David Hinton, and the wider issues of fly-tipping plaguing our landscapes and waterways. Although this month's blog is not an especially positive one; it is nonetheless important to recognise the challenges facing our water and our waterways to better address them going forwards.

Dangers of domestic disposal:

In York, the River Foss Society conservation group has raised concerns over the health of the river due to pharmaceutical and chemical contamination from household waste [1]. Already under pressure from discharges of untreated sewage, researchers have found the Foss measured worst in Europe for pharmaceutical contaminants [1]. Even at low concentrations, toxic domestic chemicals (e.g. garden pesticides, cleaning fluids, paint) are hugely damaging to aquatic biodiversity, while the extent of resulting environmental harm from medicinal chemicals is presently unknown [1]. Equally, there is concern over forever chemicals entering waterways such as the Foss from domestic sources [1].

Medicines and toxic domestic chemicals require specialist disposal and not the bin, or down the toilet [1]. Unwanted or expired medicines can be safely disposed of at free drop-off points found at most pharmacies, while hazardous domestic products can usually be disposed at local recycling centres, or via council collection services [1, 2].

However, inappropriate industrial waste disposal remains a considerable threat to the health of our waterways and must also be addressed [1].

River Thames revitalisation?

For the first time in a long while, I am pleased to bring a positive update from the Thames.

Since being declared 'biologically dead' as a result of the heavy industry of the 1950s; with pollution from oils, dyes and heavy metals, substantial conservation efforts and policy changes have helped restore aspects of the river's health, with improvements in 21 different indicators and the return of species such as the harbour porpoise and wading birds [3]. Concentrations of zinc in 2024 were measured to have declined by 50% compared to 1990 tests, while copper was at just a quarter of former levels: both below environmentally damaging concentrations [3]. Furthermore, regulatory changes have brought about meaningful improvements, with the 2022 ban on sale of plastic cotton bud sticks resulting in the near departure of this previously common litter item from the Thames' shores; something conservationists hope can be replicated with the banning of plastic wet wipes [3, 4].

However, there remain the issues of rising temperatures and sea-levels, alongside contamination from road run-off, sewage and pharmaceuticals, threatening the future health of the river and the Greater Thames Estuary [3]. The history of the Thames has demonstrated how adverse environmental conditions can be overcome. Therefore, we ought not to give into the despair of our waterways' current circumstances but rather recognise the challenges that must be addressed to provoke necessary change.

South East screw-up:

Although I could think of stronger alliterative language to describe South East Water (SEW) and its leadership, more to the point, I feel for those living in Sussex and Kent yet again suffering from the incompetence of SEW.

Since last November, the Drinking Water Inspectorate concluded that the failure at the Pembury Treatment Works 'shouldn't have been a surprise' to SEW, with evidence the plant was 'operating suboptimally' for months prior to the outage, while SEW failed to conduct proper testing as requested by the Inspectorate, or install a filter against heavy metals [5, 6].

Earlier this month, approximately 30,000 homes across Kent and Sussex again faced major supply problems, with mains water only restored after six days of disruption [7-9]. Although SEW have tried using Storm Goretti as a scapegoat, the corporation's track record is poor at best, with a growing group of MPs, council leaders and customers calling on CEO David Hinton to be sacked, or at least resign [7, 10]. As Hinton earns a base salary of £400,000 and received a £115,000 bonus last year — set to double in 2026 — with a further non-performance-related 'service award' of £80,000 per annum, SEW have laughably suggested the company does not award poor performance [10-12].

Given the repeated extended water outages and current review of its operating license by Ofwat, Hinton's position is simply not tenable, and as he claims limited funding is restricting SEW's capacity to improve current infrastructure, this yet another reminder of the failings of privatisation and how recent legislation (Water White Paper) does not go far enough to address the issues of an industry structured to prioritise profit [11, 13-16]. In fact, the failure of the government's white paper to consider nationalisation in its review of the water industry and for its author, Sir Jon Cunliffe, to suggest privatisation is not the reason for the industry's problems, is outrageous and underscores the government's unwillingness to take meaningful action against the sewage crisis [17].

Fly-tipping farce:

Returning to the fly-tipping super site situated closely to the River Cherwell, I am somewhat relieved to say two more people have since been arrested in connection with money-laundering and environmental offences, and that the site is to be cleared over the next 12 months, albeit at a cost of £9.6 million [18].

The wider issue of fly-tipping remains an ongoing environmental travesty, with at least 11 of these super sites across England exceeding 20,000 tonnes. These include a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent, a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, and tens of thousands of tonnes of waste in Over, Gloucestershire (found to be contaminating the River Leadon's floodplain), none of which have been cleared, and which appear to be primarily the result of organised crime [18-20]. Despite the government and police insisting investigations are being carried out and that the issue was 'not a problem that can be solved overnight', neither are these sites an overnight development [19]. For instance, the River Cherwell dump in Oxfordshire took place over several months, with activity continuing throughout 2025 even when the Environment Agency were alerted to the tipping and had visited the site [21]. Once a fly-tipping site is recognised, it should not be unrealistic for some degree of monitoring or surveillance to take place to identify perpetrators and prevent further dumping, as the development of these sites continues to undermine efforts to safeguard the health of our waterways.

Thank you for taking the time to read this month's issue of the UK River Report. I hope you found it informative. If you would like to get involved and raise awareness of river pollution in your area, please head over to the UK River Report website and check under the 'Get Involved' page to complete our survey, or feel free to get in touch via the 'Contact' page, if you feel you have more to discuss than the survey can offer. 

With hope for the future,

Federico 

References:

1. Gerrard J. Binning Medicine Could do 'untold harm' to River. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 20]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75x79q352zo

2. GOV.UK. Find a Local Hazardous Waste Disposal Service. GOV.UK; 2026. [cited 2026 January 20]. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/hazardous-waste-disposal 

3. Elgueta A. Cleaner Thames Celebrated in Latest Health Check. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 20]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8pvy7p5djo

4. Fisher J. So Long, Plastic Wet Wipes - but Should we be Flushing the New Ones? BBC; 2025. [cited 2026 January 20]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdjr4gk7v38o

5. Askew J, Sherratt Z, Irving F. Water Firm Flying Blind Before Crisis - Regulator. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 21]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62rw27v7n6o

6. Horton H. Kent Water Failure Was Foreseen and Could Have Been Stopped, Regulator Says. The Guardian; 2026. [cited 2026 January 21]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/06/kent-tunbridge-wells-water-treatment-failure-regulator

7. Askew J, Dale B, Harrison P. 'Armageddon' as Water Issues Hit 30,000 Properties. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 22]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1klvz7le29o

8. Horton H. Major Incident Declared as 30,000 Homes Left Without Water in Kent and Sussex. The Guardian; 2026. [cited 2026 January 22]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/12/major-incident-declared-as-30000-homes-left-without-water-in-kent-and-sussex

9. PA Media. Water Restored to Most Kent and Sussex Homes After Six Days’ Disruption. The Guardian; 2026. [cited 2026 January 22]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/16/water-restored-to-most-kent-and-sussex-homes-after-six-days-disruption

10. Askew J, Panons J. Water Supply Crisis Not Good Enough, Watchdog Says. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 24]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c150nxlwnqzo

11. Jack S. Environment Secretary: South East Water Boss 'should not get bonus'. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 25]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czjgp89le7do

12. Jolly H, Horton H. South East Water Boss in Line for £400,000 Bonus Despite Outages. The Guardian; 2026. [cited 2026 January 24]. Available from:  https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/15/south-east-water-boss-david-hinton-in-line-for-400000-bonus-despite-outages

13. Panons J, Askew J. South East Water Licence to be Reviewed After Supply Chaos. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 25]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czdqv5vvq1go

14. Horton H. South East Water Could Lose Operating Licence After Outages in Kent and Sussex. The Guardian; 2026. [cited 2026 January 25]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/14/south-east-water-operating-licence-ofwat-review-outages-kent-sussex

15. Jack S, Fisher J. Water Companies to Face Regular MOT-Style Checks in Industry Shake-Up. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 25]. Available from: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwygpg281dno 

16. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. A New Vision for Water: White Paper. GOV.UK; 2026. [cited 2026 January 25]. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-new-vision-for-water-white-paper

17. Horton H. Privatisation Not the Problem for England’s Water, Says Author of Review. The Guardian; 2026. [cited 2026 January 26]. available from; https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/23/privatisation-not-the-problem-for-englands-water-says-author-of-review

18. Prior M. Arrests Made Over Supersized Illegal Rubbish Dump. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 30]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7m3ezr80yo

19. Prior M, Kumah J. Hundreds of Illegal Waste Tips Operating in England - Including 11 'super sites'. BBC; 2026. [cited 2026 January 28]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1ev4yg1j1lo

20. Rowe E. Tonnes of Waste Allegedly Dumped Illegally. BBC; 2025. [cited 2026 January 28]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77318pnn52o

21. Morris J, Stafford S. How the Dumping of Illegal Waste Unfolded in Kidlington. BBC; 2025. [cited 2026 January 29]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrndnkx5rro