Latest news with #waterpollution
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Andrew Muir hits out at pollution plan 'misinformation'
Stormont's agriculture minister has hit out at what he has called "misinformation" over his department's plans to reduce water pollution which have faced criticism from some in the agri-food Ireland's long-overdue Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) for 2026-29 was published for consultation last month. Many of the proposals are linked to the Lough Neagh Action Plan. Unionist parties and farming unions have argued the plans are out of touch with the reality of on Tuesday, Andrew Muir said they were draft proposals with final decisions yet to be taken. 'Vile homophobic comments' Speaking in the Assembly the minister also criticised as "disgraceful" recent commentary on social media about the issue."I have seen misogynistic comments against officials in my department, there have been racist comments in relation to people that we are very, very fortunate to have working in our agri-food sector."Not for a very long time have I seen such vile homophobic comments about myself. I am a gay man and I am proud to be a gay man and it has no relevance whatsoever to the Nutrients Action Programme nor my ability to do this job." 'Utterly disgusting' The minister went on to say: "Some of the comments made towards me - I'm thick enough to be able to take that, it was shocking and I have not seen something like that since the 1990s, but some of the comments for example in terms of foreign nationals working in agri-food, I just thought that was beneath contempt and I think it's important we call this out here."We can have a rational discussion around these things but we should not descend into that, and some of the comments against officials are wrong."The leader of the Opposition, SDLP assembly member Matthew O'Toole said it was "utterly disgusting" and the minister had the opposition's support in calling it out, while the DUP's Gary Middleton said the social media comments against the minister and his officials were unacceptable.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
'Deep concern' over water pollution at bathing site
An MP has urged water bosses to take action over pollution. Beccy Cooper, MP for Worthing West, is seeking an 'urgent meeting' with Southern Water due to 'continuing failures' regarding water contamination. Worthing Beach House, a bathing water site located near Splashpoint Leisure Centre, was designated poor by the Environment Agency last year, meaning swimming is not advised. Ms Cooper has described the water quality as "extremely poor' and said she has 'deep concerns'. Her statement said: 'I know that Worthing Borough Council have worked hard to achieve bathing water status by recruiting volunteer 'citizen scientists' to monitor pollution levels at this and other sites, only to find that the water off Beach House in particular is of such a poor quality that the public are advised not to swim in it. Worthing West MP Beccy Cooper (Image: Supplied) 'I am very alarmed that repeated pollution incidents will continue to impact public health and our coastal environment as we move into the busy bathing season and would like to seek reassurance that Southern Water is doing everything in its power to prevent this – as has clearly not been the case up to now. 'On behalf of my constituents therefore, can you please inform me of the causes of this recent decline in water quality and give me details of immediate and long-term measures being taken to prevent further pollution events. 'I would also like to see detailed information on your work with the council and Environment Agency to monitor and respond to water quality issues. READ MORE: Lake identified as a potential source of contamination at beach 'Furthermore, I would like to see improved transparency on this from Southern Water, with more open and regular communication with the public, especially during the summer season. 'Finally, I would like to request a formal written response on the issue and to suggest that as a matter of urgency we meet to discuss this and other matters further.' A spokesman for Southern Water said: 'We're pleased that Dr Cooper shares our concern for bathing water quality and we have been in contact to arrange a meeting to discuss how bathing water quality can be improved. 'There are many causes of contamination in bathing water – agricultural and road runoff, wildlife and human behaviour on the beach to name a few. 'On the official government website, it has been noted by the Environment Agency that at Worthing Beach House the likely main source of contamination is 'urban diffuse pollution entering through the surface water system'. 'This means the work of our misconnections team, which tracks down loos and washing machines wrongly connected to surface water drains instead of our sewer system, is vital to continue to improve bathing water quality. 'We are also investing in sewer investigations and rehabilitation where needed.'
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Shocking moment pipe explodes near Brit tourists' balconies sending torrent of water through Costa Del Sol resort and turning sea brown
This is the shocking moment a section of the Costa Del Sol sea turned brown after a pipe exploded just meters from British tourists' balconies. Footage shows water gushing from a cracked underground pipe in Benalmádena before streaming through a popular resort toward the coastline. Just seconds later, a large brown blotch begins to spread across the surf as horrified holidaymakers watch on. A Spanish-speaking tourist filmed from a beachfront balcony near the Globales Los Patos Park Hotel as the drama unfolded. She could be overheard asking a companion: 'What's that? Are they cleaning something?' before pointing out bubbles coming from the centre of the stain. Stunned lifeguards were seen frantically ushering people away from the murky water as groups of curious beachgoers tried to get a closer look. Town Hall authorities raised a yellow flag warning just after midday on Monday, shortly after the ocean near the Hotel Spa Benalmadena Palace became discolored. Officials blamed the incident on a ruptured high-pressure water pipe, claiming it spilled 'clean, drinkable water' that dragged mud and sediment into the sea. They insisted there was 'no contamination' or danger to public health. Footage shows water streaming from a cracked underground pipe in Benalmádena before gushing through a popular resort and making its way down towards the coastline Benalmadena Town Hall said in a statement: 'Public water firm Acosol reported an incident that occurred around midday yesterday in its upstream drinking water supply network in the municipality. 'After detecting the incident, the water leak was immediately stopped before the impact of the incident was studied and repair work began.' The council described the burst pipe as 'quite old and deteriorated', adding: 'It is drinking water and the image it produced is the result of the natural dragging of towards the sea, without any type of contamination.' A green flag was put up later in the day after conditions returned to normal - though not before Locals were left furious by the mishap and took to social media to share their fraustration. One resident questioned: 'How many litres of water are going to be lost before the problem is fixed?' Another fumed: 'And the council turns off the beach showers to raise awareness among people.' A third added: 'Wastewater does not have or should not have that pressure, but I disagree that it is not partly faecal water that you see in the sea. 'That water carries excrement from the road and especially the waste dog walkers leave on the beach.' The disturbing incident comes just weeks after a toxic chlorine cloud forced around 160,000 people into lockdown across parts of Spain popular with tourists. Authorities warned that a blaze at an industrial warehouse selling pool cleaning products had released the gas over the Catalonia region. The fire started at around 2:20am on May 10 in Vilanova i la Geltru, a coastal town 30 miles south of Barcelona, and caused a huge plume of chlorine smoke over the area. Locals and tourists received an urgent alert on their phones telling them to stay indoors and not their their homes as firefighters battled the flames. Around 160,000 people in five towns were affected by the lockdown on Saturday morning. 'If you are in the zone that is affected, do not leave your home or your place of work,' the Civil Protection service posted on social media site X. No one was injured in the fire, Catalan emergency services said.
Zawya
27-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa's polluted rivers pose food contamination risk
Quality of irrigation water should be a national priority, says scientist. Scientists at the University of Pretoria have found that fresh vegetables are being contaminated by disease-causing bacteria through irrigation from polluted rivers and boreholes. Photos: Steve Kretzmann / GroundUp - Researchers at the University of Pretoria have found pathogens on leafy vegetables from both commercial and small-scale, informal farms. - The researchers have linked the pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria to irrigation water from rivers and boreholes. - Almost half the samples analysed were resistant to at least three different types of antibiotics. - One of the main sources of river pollution in South Africa is failing sewage treatment works, with 81% of our sewage treatment works not meeting minimum standards. As billions of litres of untreated or partially treated sewage are released into South Africa's watercourses every day, scientists have found our vegetables are being contaminated by irrigation from rivers and boreholes. Professor Lise Korsten of the University of Pretoria told Parliament's portfolio committee on agriculture in January that irrigation water was 'not fit-for-purpose' for food production and that fixing the quality of irrigation water should be a national priority. The 'crisis of our water' was one of several elements impacting food safety and human health, she said. The daily sewage pollution of our rivers is contaminating irrigation water with disease-causing bacteria, known as pathogens. In many cases, these pathogens are resistant to antibiotics, which is an extremely serious health concern. Contaminated spinach At least six studies by scientists at the University of Pretoria link irrigation water to contamination of fresh vegetables in Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, and the Western Cape. Contamination by pathogens has been found in both large commercial and informal small-scale supply chains. One of the studies from the university's Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, co-authored by Korsten and published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology in November 2021, found 80 different types of E. coli (Escherichia coli – a type of bacteria found in the human gut) as well as Salmonella species in the irrigation water and on the produce at three commercial spinach farms in Gauteng. Although E. coli bacteria are common and naturally occurring, many of which are harmless or even beneficial, there are types that are pathogenic and can cause serious food poisoning. E. coli is also an indicator species revealing larger faecal contamination. The scientists tested for E. coli and Salmonella on 288 samples collected from the farms. Of the samples, 192 were from the spinach and 42 were taken from the irrigation water. The remaining samples were from soil, water used for washing during processing, and from work surfaces. Of the 288 samples, 65 tested positive for E. coli, with 80 different types of E. coli found. Some samples had more than one type. One of the E. coli types found contained the stx2 virulence gene that releases a toxin that can cause severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea, bloody stools, vomiting, fever, and kidney failure in severe cases. The stx2 virulence gene was found in the irrigation holding dam fed by river water. Salmonella species were found in nine of the 288 samples. Of the 80 E. coli types, 76 (95%) were resistant to at least one antibiotic and 35 (44%) to three or more. The paper notes that contamination of fresh vegetables with human pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria such as E. coli and species of Salmonella can come from manure in the soil or from processing facilities. But contaminated irrigation water 'is regarded as one of the primary reservoirs, and routes of transmission, of human pathogenic bacteria onto fresh produce during primary production', state the authors. In a 2021 report to the Water Research Commission, the study's authors stated: 'A clear link was established between contaminants isolated from the irrigation water and the associated fresh produce.' Untreated sewage leaks from a sewage treatment works in Standerton, Mpumalanga, into the Vaal River which is visible in the background. Open sewers South Africa's sewage quality guidelines measure microbiological compliance (levels of faecal bacteria), chemical compliance, which refers to 'Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates, Ortho-Phosphates, etc.', and physical compliance, which refers to pH, suspended solids and electrical conductivity. To comply with minimum microbiological standards, effluent released into the environment should contain less than 1,000 faecal coliforms (such as E. coli) per 100ml. There are 144 municipalities responsible for sewage treatment in South Africa. The Department of Water and Sanitation Integrated Regulatory Information System shows 86 of these achieve microbiological compliance scores of less than 50%. A further 31 are 'Poor', achieving compliance scores of between 50 – 70%. This means 81% of our sewage works are failing microbiological compliance. But of the sewage works that have good microbiological compliance, many fail on chemical compliance, meaning they are releasing high levels of nitrates, ortho-phosphates, and ammonia into rivers. And it is often the case that the large sewage works, which release millions of litres daily into rivers, are the ones failing, whereas small sewage works that release thousands of litres daily, are meeting minimum standards. An example of this is in Cape Town, where Philadelphia sewage works, which achieves a 100% compliance score, releases up to 86,000 litres of effluent into the environment per day. But the Athlone sewage works, which currently has a 4% microbiological compliance rate, turns the Black River into little more than an open sewer as it releases up to 105-million litres of largely untreated effluent into it daily. Similarly, the Klip River in Gauteng, which is a river used to irrigate produce analysed by the University of Pretoria researchers, receives about 260-million litres of effluent from failing sewage works per day. In Vereeniging, where the Klip joins the Vaal River, dead fish regularly float past. Other rivers used to irrigate the crops analysed by the University of Pretoria researchers were the Olifants, which receives 18-million litres of effluent per day, and the Crocodile River, which receives about 68-million litres of effluent per day. Superbugs Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Professor Marc Mendelson, in a four-part series for GroundUp, said the global increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a major health problem. Mendelson wrote that since the discovery of penicillin 83 years ago, 'miraculous antibiotics have become less and less effective as the bacteria that they are used to treat become resistant'. Antibiotics are not only needed to treat infections, but they are also needed to prevent infections in cancer treatment and surgery. 'Losing these antibiotics is a big deal,' he stated. He stated he had seen a continuous rise in antibiotic resistance over the last 15 years at Groote Schuur Hospital, which was 'now culminating in the end game, with an increasing number of untreatable infections'. 'We have had to use dire measures to save lives, such as amputation of infected limbs, because no antibiotic options are left, something unthinkable 20 years ago.' Speaking to GroundUp, he said we are seeing 'the coming together of poor sanitation systems and the overuse of antibiotics', with the result being that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are being found on food. But he said even if sewage treatment plants were run properly, they would not remove all antibiotic-resistant bacteria, as they were not designed to do so. Nonetheless, he said if South Africa were able to meet the goal of universal provision of clean water, it would have 'major impacts' on reducing mortality and infection rates, as well as secondary impacts such as improving education outcomes. Pathogens, particularly those which are antibiotic-resistant, in tap water sourced from dams polluted by failing sewage treatment works, increased diarrhoeal outbreaks, he said. The small thing people could do was to properly wash fruit and vegetables before eating or preparing them (or cook them). The 'bigger thing' was the provision of clean water and sanitation systems, along with environmental surveillance of antibiotic resistance. A dysfunctional sewage treatment works in Winburg, Free Stage, from which sewage flows untreated into the dam from which drinking water for the town is extracted. Economic threat ActionSA chief whip and MP Athol Trollip told GroundUp the contamination of fruit and vegetables from contaminated irrigation water could harm South Africa's significant export market. Trollip was particularly concerned about citrus, which last brought in R33bn from exports to Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and the USA. He said European competitors such as Spain were looking for ways to prevent South Africa – which is the second largest citrus exporter after Egypt – from muscling into the highly regulated European market. For instance, new European Union regulations, which Citrus Growers' Association chief executive Justin Chadwick called 'discriminatory' and 'unscientific', regarding citrus black spot and false codling moth, posed a challenge to exporters last year. The last thing you want is a consignment of citrus from the Eastern Cape to be riddled with E. coli, as it would set off a high alert and put our exports in danger, said Trollip. He said losing the European market due to such an incident would be 'devastating'. Besides affecting the farmers, it would have 'massive employment consequences' and reduce the country's access to foreign currency. The state of South Africa's sewage treatment and resultant pollution of rivers is 'of great concern' as it also affects local produce and livestock. That many municipalities extracted drinking water from dams polluted by untreated, or partially treated effluent, meant a cholera outbreak — such as occurred in Hammanskraal in 2023 — was 'waiting to happen', he said. 'My concern is we're not doing enough to hold municipalities to account for [sewage treatment] dysfunction. It seems a case of out of sight, out of mind, but the downstream impact is immense.'
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
Paint spill blamed for stream turning white
Diluted paint is suspected to be the reason for parts of a stream turning white, the Environment Agency (EA) has said. The organisation is looking into any potential environmental impact following the incident near Belmont Brook in Hereford, on Sunday. The brook runs into the River Wye, but the EA does not believe there has been any effect on wildlife so far. In a statement, it added it would continue to keep an eye on the area, and urged people to dispose of paint at their local recycling centre and not down the drain. The stream runs through the Belmont housing estate and goes into the river opposite the city's rowing club. It is a popular angling spot with the fishing rights owned by Hereford and District Angling Society. The EA asked anyone who suspected water pollution to report it to its 24/7 incident hotline. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Environment Agency
