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Times
an hour ago
- Times
Fears for Windermere as tests reveal chemical pollution
Volunteers testing the water quality of Windermere have found 'really concerning' pollution in England's largest and most famous lake. The analysis, in which 350 'citizen scientists' took samples of water at more than 100 locations around the lake, found 'hotspots' of phosphorus, which causes algal blooms, and two types of bacteria that cause illness. Co-ordinated by the Freshwater Biological Association and the University of Lancaster, the Big Windermere Survey was intended to fill gaps in monitoring by the Environment Agency (EA) to give a clearer picture of the health of the lake at a time when the government has committed to clean it up. The EA examines water quality at four locations around the lake during the summer months as part of its bathing water assessments. In its last classification all four received 'excellent' ratings. However, the more extensive testing by volunteers revealed a different picture. While Windermere's overall levels of bacteria are low enough to give it a 'good' water quality rating, they worsen in the summer. The northeast, northwest and southwest areas recorded levels that would earn them a 'poor' or failing rating from the EA. Bacteria can enter the lake from many sources, including from livestock, leaky septic tanks and untreated sewage. The Save Windermere and Windrush Against Sewage Pollution groups counted a record-breaking 140 days last year when United Utilities discharged untreated sewage into the lake. Testing the lake between June 2022 and November last year, the volunteers also found that all sampled areas had too much phosphorus to earn a 'good' water quality rating. Phosphorus is one of the key nutrients that have caused the lake to turn green with algae in recent summers. In 2023 the EA estimated that sewage was the source of slightly more than half of the lake's phosphorus, while the rest was run-off from surrounding settlements. The Freshwater Biological Association is calling on the EA to increase testing and to investigate the pollution hotspots urgently. It also wants to see further investment in wastewater treatment facilities. • Swimmers fear Windermere's toxic, polluted water: 'We won't be coming back' Simon Johnson, its executive director, said: 'The evidence is clear. I hope that these results will spur people on into better and faster action to rejuvenate this incredible place. When you see a place you love so much, that is so important; when the water quality of that place is below what I think society expects and demands, then that's really concerning. If we can't get this right on Windermere, where are we going to do it?' The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: 'This government shares the nation's fury at unacceptable levels of pollution pumped into this national treasure. We have committed to ending sewage pollution into Windermere entirely, boosted monitoring of sewage spills nationwide and are increasing enforcement to hold polluting companies to account. 'We know that there is a lot of damage to undo, but we are getting on with the work to ensure that the British people will be able to see genuine results.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Scientists reveal the surprising reason why airplane toilet water could be the secret to combatting the next pandemic
It's one aspect of air travel we prefer not to think too much about. But airplane toilet water could help combat the next pandemic, according to scientists. Wastewater collected from commercial aircraft could provide a major public health opportunity, they say. And it could play a crucial role in tracking dangerous drug–resistant pathogens as they spread across the globe. An international team of experts analysed the bathroom wastewater from 44 international flights arriving into Australia from nine different countries. They used advanced molecular screening methods to examine the genetic structures of any potential superbugs with antibiotic–resistant genes. Across all trips, a total of nine 'high–priority' drug–resistant superbugs were detected, including Salmonella – the bacteria that causes diarrhoea, fever and stomach pains – and Staphylococcus aureus, a germ that can develop into light–threatening infections if it gets into the body. 'We now have the tools to turn aircraft toilets into an early–warning disease system to better manage public health,' senior author Dr Warish Ahmed, from Australia's national science agency CSIRO, said. In total, 17 wastewater samples held superbugs that contained a gene which boosts resistance to existing last–resort antibiotics. This is concerning, experts say, because it means current medical treatments can be rendered ineffective. Studies suggest that this plague of superbugs may kill up to 50 million people by 2050 – causing even more deaths than cancer. The analysis, published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum, also found that wastewater samples from Australia lacked this antibiotic–resistant gene, indicating it most likely arrived from international travel. Flights from Asia, and particularly India, showed higher concentrations of antibiotic resistant genes compared to flights from Europe and the UK, the researchers said. Worryingly, the team went on to discover that the germs' DNA remained stable for as long as 24 hours after being treated with disinfectant. 'International travel is one of the main drivers of antimicrobial resistance spread,' said co–author Dr Yawen Liu, from Xiamen University in China. 'By monitoring aircraft wastewater, we can potentially detect and track antibiotic resistance genes before they become established in local environments.' Infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, influenza and SARS–CoV–2 are all known to have been spread by air travel. A range of strategies have been trialled to reduce their transmission including travel restrictions, individual passenger screening and quarantine. 'With antimicrobial resistance projected to cause more than 39 million deaths globally by 2050, the need for innovative surveillance tools is urgent,' Professor Nicholas Ashbolt, co–author from the University of South Australia, said. 'Aircraft wastewater monitoring could complement existing public health systems, providing early warnings of emerging superbug threats.' WHAT IS MRSA? Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a type of bacteria that is resistant to several widely-used antibiotics, which makes it particularly hard to treat. Catching the infection early could prevent it spreading and infecting others. Approximately 30 per cent of people carry the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria even in their nose, armpits, groin or buttocks without realising it. This can invade the body's bloodstream and release poisonous toxins that kill up to one-fifth of infected patients. MRSA is most commonly associated with hospitals. As well as being highly drug resistant, current screening methods are fairly inaccurate, which allows the infection to spread as a patient moves around both within and outside hospitals. Even when the infection is successfully treated, it doubles the average length of a patient's hospital stay, as well as increasing healthcare costs.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Windermere has highest levels of bacteria in summer, study says
England's largest lake has "concerning" pollution hotspots and harmful levels of bacteria, new studies have carried out at Windermere have revealed levels of bacteria and phosphorus that fail water quality standards are at their highest in summer, when the lake is at its most busiest for bathing and water sports. The Big Windermere Survey (BWS) saw 350 volunteers collect more than 1,000 samples over two and a half years at more than 100 locations - many of which had never been tested for water want "decisive action" to improve the lake. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has committed to getting water quality levels back to normal. It said there "is a lot of damage to undo". Scientists from the Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) and Lancaster University said the elevated concentrations of Escherichia coli ( and Intestinal Enterococci (IE) in summer were "particularly concerning as they indicate an increased risk of gastro-intestinal illness if water is ingested".Simon Johnson, the association's executive director, said: "When you see a place you love so much, that is so important, when the water quality of that place is below what I think society expects and demands, then that's really concerning."He said Windermere was one of the world's most famous lakes and if the issues could not be solved there, it did not bode well for the future of other equally important but less famous sites such as Coniston Water."Its scientific, ecological, cultural importance, whether you are an artist, a poet, wild swimmer, motorboat owner, it's just intertwined in the whole kind of social and ecological fabric of the Lake District," he added."If we can't get this right on Windermere, where are we going to do it?The findings show much of the lake's shoreline in the north-west, north-east and south-west areas in summer were only consistent with standards for "poor" bathing water quality. But the data shows overall Windermere's levels of bacteria have a "good" water quality rating through spring, autumn and winter seasons. 'Devastating decline' Tests for phosphorus - a pollutant that causes algal blooms and damage to aquatic wildlife and comes from sources such as wastewater and fertiliser run-off from agriculture - revealed levels of the chemical that exceed expected Freshwater Biological Association warned that rare and threatened species in the lake such as Arctic char would face a "steady and devastating decline" without action to improve water report also reveals some of the 71 sample sites tested had consistently demonstrated high concentrations of both phosphorus and at least one of the include Waterhead, Millerground, Bowness Bay, Belle Isle, Mitchell Wyke Bay, south-west shore sites and near the River Leven outflow on the lake, and river locations on the Rothay, Stock Ghyll, Black Beck, Mill Beck, and Wilfin Beck. Windermere, part of the Lake District National Park Unesco World Heritage Site, is home to more than 14,000 people, and its scenery, rare species and cultural heritage attract seven million visitors a year, generating £750m for the local it has been the focus of concerns over pollution, from sources including wastewater from United Utilities and private sewage treatment and rural and urban land use, with the government pledging to "clean up Windermere" from the high levels of pollutants it citizen science testing, which took place from June 2022 to November 2024 across 10 sessions, aimed to address concerns about water quality and fill in gaps in traditional Environment Agency monitors water quality through the summer months at four sites as part of its bathing water assessments, with all receiving "excellent" ratings in the last annual Freshwater Biological Association is calling for the pollution hotspots identified by the testing to be investigated, and for the Environment Agency to increase the number of bathing water sites and monitor them through the year.A Defra spokesperson said: "This government shares the nation's fury at unacceptable levels of pollution pumped into this national treasure."We have committed to ending sewage pollution into Windermere entirely, boosted monitoring of sewage spills nationwide and are increasing enforcement to hold polluting companies to account."We know that there is a lot of damage to undo, but we are getting on with the work to ensure that the British people will be able to see genuine results." Additional reporting by PA Media Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
