UK River Report #9: From Funding Strains, to Local Campaigns and Untold Pollution Pain

Welcome back dear reader to the ninth installment of the UK River Report. In this month's post, I shall be returning to the latest update in Thames Water's struggles to remain afloat, a Northumbrian-based project intent on undoing centuries of river modifications, the promising beginning of a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of UK chalk streams and some lesser known, but no less severe sources of river pollution, impacting both human and environmental health. 

KKR crisis:

Thames Water's future remains uncertain as the latest attempt to rescue itself from collapse into government-supervised administration has proven fruitless, due to the withdrawal of US private equity giant KKR, previously set to finance a £4 billion rescue deal [1]. By only focusing its efforts on KKR during the early stages of its takeover bid, despite objections from Ofwat, Thames Water left itself exposed to the risks associated with KKR not proceeding with the deal, something that later became reality [1]. Yet another example of the water industry's volatility, threatening customers and the environment alike, robust regulation to ensure better stability has still not been realised, compounding a sector reliant on private investment [1]. From no debt in 1989 to an amassed debt of £60.3 billion between England's water companies as of 2023, dividends worth £53 billion have been reliably paid out, while crucial infrastructure has been starved of necessary funds and future shortfalls in public water supplies appear stark [2, 3]. 

Reversing the rerouted:

Efforts to restore a 1 km section of the River Breamish, in Northumberland, expected to be complete by late summer, will see a return to the river's traditional course, having been straightened over centuries of rerouting to create farmland [4]. Forming part of the River Till Restoration Strategy, into which the Breamish flows, with funding from an EU-backed £5.8 million nature recovery project established to improve over 49,000 hectares of habitat and water quality within the river Tweed catchment, Tweed estuary and the Northumberland Coast, it aims to help help reverse biodiversity loss and increased flood risk which has stemmed from the Till''s disconnection from its floodplain [4, 5]. 

Although a promising and much needed initiative, with approximately 97% of UK rivers having been modified in some way, there remains much to do to ensure the return to natural, free-flowing rivers, capable of providing a wealth of ecological benefits, from water purification to allowing the migration of fish [6]. 

Saving our chalk streams:

Earlier this month, the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust hosted the county's first ever Rivers Week, with the aim of encouraging the general public and those in positions of power to better appreciate the importance of rivers, with a particular focus on protecting the region's chalk streams [7]. Accounting for 10% of the world's 260 chalk streams, these habitats are crucial for maintaining populations of vulnerable species, including the kingfisher and wild brown trout, which further emphasises the importance of investing in the health of UK rivers [7]. Fortunately, government action through a Labour-led, cross-party group is taking place in order to safeguard the future of our globally important chalk streams [7]. 

Forever chemicals - a concealed threat:

Pollution of UK rivers from forever chemicals presents a widespread threat, with a recent study of 32 rivers across the UK concluding the presence of forever chemical trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) at 98% of the 54 sites sampled [8, 9].  Originating from a plethora of sources, including industrial plants, pesticide degradation and sewage sludge, there are concerns surrounding the long term impacts of TFA contamination on human and environmental health, with German authorities having applied to the European Chemicals Agency to classify TFA as a persistent reprotoxin, harmful toward reproduction and the environment [10, 11].

Research into understanding the wider impacts of forever chemicals is ongoing, although this highlights the importance of contingency planning by the government, with a lack of regulations established to identify or reduce TFA concentrations in the environment or in drinking water in the UK [8]. 

Furthermore, hypocrisy remains rife within the water sector, as firms concerned by a loss of sewage sludge sales, recognised since 2017 by the Environment Agency as being at risk of contamination by forever chemicals and of which approximately 3.5 million tonnes is applied to fields each year as a cheap fertiliser, continue to lobby regulators [11]. 

Dog walkers' disaster:

Another growing concern that has begun to be recognised is the negative impact of pet flea treatments on the health of UK rivers. Earlier this month, both modern agricultural pesticides such as propiconazole and veterinary pesticide fipronil were recorded in English rivers Wensum and Tome for the first time, with the latter likely explained by treated dogs swimming in the rivers [12]. 

However, issue is far more widespread than this, with the chemicals found in flea treatments, including fipronil, having been frequently recorded frequently across the UK - in 98.6% of samples from 20 English rivers between 2016-2018 - despite the ban on its outdoor agricultural use since 2018 and no recorded use since 2016 [13-16].

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. Jack S, Edwards C. Thames Water's Future in Doubt After Investor Pulls Out. BBC; 2025. [cited 2025 June 25]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93leknykvyo

2. Leach A et al. How Much of Your Water Bill is Swallowed up by Company Debt? The Guardian; 2023. [cited 2025 June 25]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2023/dec/18/how-much-of-your-water-bill-is-swallowed-up-by-company-debt-interactive

3. Environment Agency. England Faces 5 Billion Litre Public Water Shortage by 2055 Without Urgent Action. GOV.UK; 2025. [cited 2025 June 26]. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/england-faces-5-billion-litre-public-water-shortage-by-2055-without-urgent-action

4. Tickell P. Centuries of River Re-routing to be Reversed. BBC; 2025. [cited 2025 June 26]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2498vqq194o

5. Natural England. Three New £11 Million Natural England LIFE Projects Launched. GOV.UK; 2022. [cited 2025 June 26]. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/three-new-11-million-natural-england-life-projects-launched

6. Lawton G. What we can do to Let the UK’s Tamed Rivers Flow Wild and Free Again. New Scientist; 2023. [cited 2025 June 27]. Available from: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25834361-500-what-we-can-do-to-let-the-uks-tamed-rivers-flow-wild-and-free-again/

7. Parry L. Trust Renews Call to Celebrate and Protect Rivers. BBC; 2025. [cited 2025 June 28]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gk1jk81mmo

8. Fisher J. 'Forever Chemical' Found in All but One of Tested UK Rivers. BBC; 2025. [cited 2025 June 28]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2yjxxvx08o 

9. Li J et al. Concentrations of Trifluoroacetic Acid (TFA) in UK Surface Waters. Fidra; 2025. [cited 2025 June 28]. Available from: https://www.fidra.org.uk/download/concentrations-of-trifluoroacetic-acid-tfa-in-uk-surface-waters/

10. BfR. Trifluoroacetic Acid (TFA): Assessment For Classification in New Hazard Classes Submitted. BfR; 2025. [cited 2025 June 29]. Available from: https://www.bfr.bund.de/en/press-release/trifluoroacetic-acid-tfa-assessment-for-classification-in-new-hazard-classes-submitted/

11. Fisher J. Warning Over 'Dirty Secret' of Toxic Chemicals on Farmers' Fields. BBC; 2025. [cited 2025 June 29]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3e5y85p488o

12. Horton H. Dangerous Pesticides and Pet Flea Treatment Detected in English Rivers for First Time. The Guardian; 2025. [cited 2025 June 29]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/17/dangerous-pesticides-pet-flea-treatment-detected-english-rivers

13. Duncalf-Youngson H et al. Pet Treatments Could be Harming Freshwater Life. Freshwater Biological Association; 2023. [cited 2025 June 30]. Available from: https://www.fba.org.uk/info-notes/pet-treatments-could-be-harming-freshwater-life

14. Official Journal of the European Union. European Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/1792 of 17 October 2019 Amending Annexes II, III and V to Regulation (EC) no 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council as Regards Maximum Residue Levels for Amitrole, Fipronil, Flupyrsulfuron-methyl, Imazosulfuron, Isoproturon, Orthosulfamuron and Triasulfuron in or on Certain Products. Official Journal of the European Union; 2019. [cited 2025 June 30]. Available from:  https://eurlex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/PDF/uri=CELEX:32019R1792&from=EN

15. Fera. Data. Fera; 2023. [cited 2025 June 30]. Available from: https://pusstats.fera.co.uk/data/current

16. Perkins R et al. Potential Role of Veterinary Flea Products in Widespread Pesticide Contamination of English Rivers. [online] Science of The Total Environment. 2021;755(1). [cited 2025 June 30]. Available from. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720370911?via=ihub