High pollution levels in River Tyne says Clean Tyne River Group

The Clean Tyne River Group, based in Wylam, monitors the river's water quality for faecal bacteria including E.coli along with phosphates and nitrates.

Dr Stephen Westgarth, chair of the group, said samples taken by the group from the River Tyne between Wylam and Ovingham show levels of E.coli in the water that surpass the safety levels set by DEFRA which applies to bathing water quality. The Environment Agency monitors water quality in rivers for wildlife and ecology.

Dr Chris Brogan, underneath Points Bridge at Wylam, taking samples for testing (Image: Clean Tyne River Group)

The group held a public meeting on November 7 to raise awareness of the pollution.

According to DEFRA, 900 CFUs per 100mls (colony-forming units) are the E.coli limit which is satisfactory for pollution levels.

Samples taken in the summer surpassed those levels and were recorded as reaching 13,700 CFUs, nearly 15 times higher than DEFRA's safety standard.

"This means there is ammonia and other toxic products that kill life in the river. It's simply shocking and appalling this is allowed.

"There are hordes of paid agencies who are not doing what they ought to do and I find that an outrage," he said.

Dr Westgarth said more than 40 people attended the meeting and even Feargal Sharkey responded to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

On regular walk along Tyne. Learnt a lot at @CleanTyneWylam meeting last night. Rowers report human faeces spotted regularly. Monitoring shows sky high E Coli levels after rain. Antiquated sewage pipe. No plan to upgrade. Why not? @NorthumbrianH2O @Feargal_Sharkey pic.twitter.com/HIoiXEcQ5y

— John Hanley (@JohnHanley11) November 8, 2023

Feargal Sharkey's response - 

And why is it that local people are having to do this work.

Why aren't the regulators leading on this? https://t.co/aIugkcXvG5

— Feargal Sharkey (@Feargal_Sharkey) November 8, 2023

Dr Westgarth said: "We've applied to get Bathing Water Status and been refused by DEFRA because of the relatively small numbers of people using the site. The legislation is set up for beaches where there might be 10,000 people using it - on any one day, we have 30 people swimming."

Samples show after localised rain, water from the River Tyne is 'very polluted'.

"That seems to flush sewage out of the sewage system which overflows the system into the river after probably only moderate localised rain, and it flushes sewage from the agricultural industry into the river.

A sewage pipe overflowing into the River Tyne (Image: Clean Tyne River Group)

"We're seeing levels over 900 CFUs which is dangerous for local people and wildlife. There was quite a lot of frustration from people about the pollution in the river. The Clean Tyne Group will be presenting similar findings to the Prudhoe Town Council at a meeting in November.

"We need people to express interest to their representatives and tell them it is unacceptable; we need people to think about this issue when they're voting in the next general election and the more people who get involved the better.

"We want people who care about the river higher up to get in touch and see if we can get monitoring further up the river at Hexham, Corbridge or Chollerford." 

The group will be involved in a panel discussion with industry representatives similar to Question Time on February 10. 

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Current regulations for rivers and open waters in England protect wildlife and are not designed for the protection of human health. The River Tyne has hugely improved water quality over past decades, from being heavily polluted in the 1950s, to becoming the top salmon river in the country.

“However, we understand the increasing interest to use England’s rivers for recreation and we have already provided advice and guidance to individuals and groups interested in applying for bathing water status across the country.

“We agree that is unacceptable to still be seeing current levels of pollution across the country. We are determined to improve the quality of our waters and are holding the water industry, farmers and anyone who pollutes our rivers to account on a scale never seen before.

“Our officers carry out numerous inspections of local sewage works and farms along the Tyne and it’s catchment to ensure they are compliant with their permits to prevent pollution from happening. Where there is evidence of non-compliance, or a pollution incident has occurred we will not hesitate to pursue the companies or individuals and take appropriate action.”