• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
East Anglia Bylines
  • HOME
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Health
    • Welfare
    • World
    Cycling.

    Thirty for 30 – how to reduce your carbon footprint

    Oven ready social care plan

    AgeUK and ‘People at the heart of care’

    The UK Youth Parliament

    Should sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds be given the vote?

    Shopping for bargains.

    Savvy tips for cutting your food bill

    Templefields House

    ‘Big Bits of Ash Falling from the Sky’: What happens when your home is on an industrial estate and a warehouse fire breaks out?

    Urkrainian refugees at Warsaw Station

    The Homes for Ukraine scheme: really not “world-beating”

    Pirogov-emergency-team

    Norfolk help for the casualties of war

    A group of international students

    After Brexit: another lost opportunity for young people

    Dentist at work

    Emergency! Dental treatment in lockdown

    • Brexit
    • Health
    • Education
    • World
  • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Local government
    • Justice
    • Activism
  • Climate
    • Environment
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    Pylons at Aldringham, Suffolk

    Shock as National Grid proposes 180km of new pylons across East Anglia

    Houses of Parliament

    Democracy and lack of accountability

    Cambridge Europe Day Fete

    Europe Day fête in Cambridge on 14 May

    Three Steampunks

    Imagining other worlds: steampunk in East Anglia

    Smiling Baby

    Twenty years: a staggering difference in life chances

    Shopping for bargains.

    Savvy tips for cutting your food bill

    Templefields House

    ‘Big Bits of Ash Falling from the Sky’: What happens when your home is on an industrial estate and a warehouse fire breaks out?

    Urkrainian refugees at Warsaw Station

    The Homes for Ukraine scheme: really not “world-beating”

    River Deben, Woodbridge

    Rivers have rights: national day of protests against sewage dumping

    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    • Property
  • Business
    • All
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    Sugar beet

    As farmers suffer, is government’s sugar sell-out just to keep Tory donors sweet?

    Preston bus station

    Community wealth building

    Stansted Airport

    Are plans for Stansted Airport signs of a changing world?

    Snape

    The Ore and the Alde: smugglers, a merman and the home of seaside chic

    The Studio, Elstree

    Was dirty Russian money washed in a Herts public lavatory?

    Ukraine border boxes

    Freedom Boxes and Freedom Buses

    Sunak's wife claims to be non-domiciled

    Is the Chancellor’s wife really a non-dom?

    Rishi Sunak budget

    The economic and political consequences of Rishi Sunak’s failure

    Energy producer profits set to increase 40 fold due to energy price increases

    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    • Farming
  • ANGLIA
    • All
    • Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
    Duncan Baker

    Council leader appeals to MP to clean up politics for good after claimed death threats

    Norfolk County Hall

    EXCLUSIVE: shocking coup by Norfolk’s Tories

    Pylons at Aldringham, Suffolk

    Shock as National Grid proposes 180km of new pylons across East Anglia

    Mr Pecksniff (Social Media)

    Pecksniff’s Diary

    Cambridge Europe Day Fete

    Europe Day fête in Cambridge on 14 May

    Three Steampunks

    Imagining other worlds: steampunk in East Anglia

    Local election results in the East: good news for progressives?

    Smiling Baby

    Twenty years: a staggering difference in life chances

    South Cambridgeshire: will the voters think local or national?

    • East Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Health
    • Welfare
    • World
    Cycling.

    Thirty for 30 – how to reduce your carbon footprint

    Oven ready social care plan

    AgeUK and ‘People at the heart of care’

    The UK Youth Parliament

    Should sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds be given the vote?

    Shopping for bargains.

    Savvy tips for cutting your food bill

    Templefields House

    ‘Big Bits of Ash Falling from the Sky’: What happens when your home is on an industrial estate and a warehouse fire breaks out?

    Urkrainian refugees at Warsaw Station

    The Homes for Ukraine scheme: really not “world-beating”

    Pirogov-emergency-team

    Norfolk help for the casualties of war

    A group of international students

    After Brexit: another lost opportunity for young people

    Dentist at work

    Emergency! Dental treatment in lockdown

    • Brexit
    • Health
    • Education
    • World
  • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Local government
    • Justice
    • Activism
  • Climate
    • Environment
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    Pylons at Aldringham, Suffolk

    Shock as National Grid proposes 180km of new pylons across East Anglia

    Houses of Parliament

    Democracy and lack of accountability

    Cambridge Europe Day Fete

    Europe Day fête in Cambridge on 14 May

    Three Steampunks

    Imagining other worlds: steampunk in East Anglia

    Smiling Baby

    Twenty years: a staggering difference in life chances

    Shopping for bargains.

    Savvy tips for cutting your food bill

    Templefields House

    ‘Big Bits of Ash Falling from the Sky’: What happens when your home is on an industrial estate and a warehouse fire breaks out?

    Urkrainian refugees at Warsaw Station

    The Homes for Ukraine scheme: really not “world-beating”

    River Deben, Woodbridge

    Rivers have rights: national day of protests against sewage dumping

    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    • Property
  • Business
    • All
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    Sugar beet

    As farmers suffer, is government’s sugar sell-out just to keep Tory donors sweet?

    Preston bus station

    Community wealth building

    Stansted Airport

    Are plans for Stansted Airport signs of a changing world?

    Snape

    The Ore and the Alde: smugglers, a merman and the home of seaside chic

    The Studio, Elstree

    Was dirty Russian money washed in a Herts public lavatory?

    Ukraine border boxes

    Freedom Boxes and Freedom Buses

    Sunak's wife claims to be non-domiciled

    Is the Chancellor’s wife really a non-dom?

    Rishi Sunak budget

    The economic and political consequences of Rishi Sunak’s failure

    Energy producer profits set to increase 40 fold due to energy price increases

    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    • Farming
  • ANGLIA
    • All
    • Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
    Duncan Baker

    Council leader appeals to MP to clean up politics for good after claimed death threats

    Norfolk County Hall

    EXCLUSIVE: shocking coup by Norfolk’s Tories

    Pylons at Aldringham, Suffolk

    Shock as National Grid proposes 180km of new pylons across East Anglia

    Mr Pecksniff (Social Media)

    Pecksniff’s Diary

    Cambridge Europe Day Fete

    Europe Day fête in Cambridge on 14 May

    Three Steampunks

    Imagining other worlds: steampunk in East Anglia

    Local election results in the East: good news for progressives?

    Smiling Baby

    Twenty years: a staggering difference in life chances

    South Cambridgeshire: will the voters think local or national?

    • East Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk
No Result
View All Result
East Anglia Bylines
No Result
View All Result

Manningtree Mermaids protest about sewage in their river

The wild swimmers of Manningtree are leading the fight against water companies discharging excessive, untreated sewage into our rivers.

Jenny RhodesbyJenny Rhodes
April 25, 2022
in Environment, Essex
The Manningtree Mermaids Against Sewage

The Manningtree Mermaids Against Sewage. Photo by Jenny Rhodes

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

On Saturday 23 April, Surfers Against Sewage, in conjunction with Manningtree Mermaids Against Sewage, organised a protest against Anglian Water Company discharging sewage into rivers, locally the River Stour. This was also the main protest for the East Anglian region and was intended to send a strong message to Anglian Water against the discharge of untreated sewage in virtually all rivers in the region. Surfers against Sewage say that sewage was dumped by Anglian Water for more than 194,000 hours in 2021.

There was a colourful and noisy procession along the sea wall into the town, and finally to a gathering on Manningtree beach where sea shanties were sung and speeches were made.

Surfers_Against_Sewage
Surfers Against Sewage. Photo by Jenny Rhodes

The science of river pollution

Professor of Environmental Toxicology at the University of Suffolk, Professor Nic Bury, told the audience that water companies are permitted to dump some sewage in waterways during storms, but it is now proven that they also do it at other times. He described three particular problems: bacteria which can cause infections like E. Coli; nutrient discharges which cause algal blooms – particularly harmful in East Anglia’s precious chalk streams; and prescriptions drugs which pass from humans into sewage and can contaminate aquatic life.

It is not yet known the harm the latter could cause in freshwater ecosystems. Professor Bury runs a project measuring E. coli counts in rivers, and a sample taken just off Manningtree’s jetty found 1000cfu/100ml. The maximum for safe swimming is 500cfu/100ml. He is very concerned that the Environment Agency’s budget has been halved in recent years so they simply don’t have the resources to address all pollution incidents.

Local people are angry

Mayor of Manningtree, Cllr Michelle Taylor, pointed out that sewage can cause illness, and that local sailors, anglers, wild swimmers and birdwatchers need to know that their water is safe and clean. She said Surfers against Sewage are calling for an end to sewage discharge into UK bathing waters by 2030. This would need stronger and bolder targets to end untreated sewage discharge, an enhanced testing regime, nature restoration to reduce pressure and minimise impacts, and increased investment in industry infrastructure to prevent destructive practices.

John Hall, leader of the Essex Wildlife Trust for 28 years, told the audience that untreated sewage discharges were a national problem, but that he personally knew of many incidents in the River Colne just up the road in Colchester.

The Stour at Dedham
The Stour at Dedham. Photo by Jenny Rhodes.

The Mermaids care about their river

Member of Manningtree Mermaids Wild Swimmers, Ness Woodcock-Dennis, is worried because sewage in the water passes into the food chain via the fish we eat. “We don’t really know the effect it is having on our bodies,” she says. She is dismayed that we have so lost our connection with the natural environment that it is thought acceptable to contaminate rivers like this. She doesn’t like to swim after heavy rain as it is likely the water company has opened the storm drains, but even this precaution is not foolproof as it’s known that sewage is also discharged at other times. Sometimes the water looks dirty, sometimes not, but “Just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean it isn’t there”, she points out.

Just four miles up the River Stour at Dedham Boathouse is a well-loved local beauty spot where people enjoy boating and paddle-boarding in the water. Unfortunately, and probably unbeknownst to them, there is a sewage treatment plant behind the trees, where in 2021, a sewer storm overflow discharged for 1,248 hours (i.e. 52 days) into the Dedham Mill Stour tributary. This water flows slowly downstream to Manningtree and could contaminate everything it touches. Only last year, people were advised not to enter the Stour after a number of swimmers became sick. No wonder the Mermaids are angry.


More on East Anglian rivers

The River Babingley: a chalk stream
Anglia

COP26: Norfolk’s chalk streams – a rare and beautiful habitat under threat

byCameron Holloway
November 5, 2021
River Deben, Woodbridge
Activism

Rivers have rights: national day of protests against sewage dumping

byAnna Damski
April 22, 2022
Upper-River-Bure
Environment

Restoring the River Bure

byStephen McNair
March 3, 2022
Diss Sewage Out campaign
Activism

Ofwat concerns over sewage

byPeter Thurlow
March 27, 2022
picture of Norfolk river
Anglia

East Anglia: a region of rivers

byStephen McNair
January 18, 2022
Tags: Sewage
Previous Post

Fury as council slaps standards complaint on councillors who walked out over Easter school meal vouchers

Next Post

After Brexit: another lost opportunity for young people

Jenny Rhodes

Jenny Rhodes

Jenny Rhodes lives in Essex and taught in London for many years, specialising in Literacy and English as an Additional Language. As well as education, she has a particular interest in gender equality and environmental issues. Jenny is a member of the EAB editorial team.

Related Posts

Pylons at Aldringham, Suffolk
Anglia

Shock as National Grid proposes 180km of new pylons across East Anglia

byAnna Damski
May 15, 2022
Cycling.
Climate

Thirty for 30 – how to reduce your carbon footprint

byJules Pretty
May 10, 2022
Sewage pollution in the River Waveney.
Anglia

Anglian Water – born to fail us?

byElana Katz
May 2, 2022
Colchester Town Hall
Essex

Colchester Tories keen to focus on local issues, but voters’ anger could swing either way.

byJenny Rhodes
May 1, 2022
Templefields House
Community

‘Big Bits of Ash Falling from the Sky’: What happens when your home is on an industrial estate and a warehouse fire breaks out?

byJessica Walsh
April 29, 2022
Next Post
A group of international students

After Brexit: another lost opportunity for young people

Want to support us?

Can you help East Anglia Bylines to grow and become more sustainable with a regular donation, no matter how small?  

DONATE

Sign up to our newsletter

If you would like to receive the East Anglia Bylines regular newsletter, straight talking direct to your inbox, click the button below.

NEWSLETTER

LATEST

Duncan Baker

Council leader appeals to MP to clean up politics for good after claimed death threats

May 17, 2022
Norfolk County Hall

EXCLUSIVE: shocking coup by Norfolk’s Tories

May 17, 2022
Climate change is going global

Climate change now: acting for ourselves and our children

May 16, 2022
Pylons at Aldringham, Suffolk

Shock as National Grid proposes 180km of new pylons across East Anglia

May 15, 2022

MOST READ

Norfolk County Hall

EXCLUSIVE: shocking coup by Norfolk’s Tories

May 17, 2022
Pylons at Aldringham, Suffolk

Shock as National Grid proposes 180km of new pylons across East Anglia

May 15, 2022
Duncan Baker

Council leader appeals to MP to clean up politics for good after claimed death threats

May 17, 2022
Lee Anderson MP

Jack Monroe threatens to sue MP

May 14, 2022

Tags

Activism Brexit Business Cambridgeshire Climate Community Culture Democracy Development Devolution Economics Education Employment Environment Essex Farming Finance Health Humour Hymns International Women's Day Justice Letters Local elections 2022 Local government NHS Norfolk Opinion Pandemic Partygate Party politics Pecksniff Poetry Politics Poverty Property Rivers of East Anglia Science Sewage Sizewell Social care Suffolk Ukraine VAWG Welfare
East Anglia Bylines

East Anglia Bylines is a regional online newspaper that supports citizen journalism. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in East Anglia and beyond.

Learn more about us

No Result
View All Result
  • About us
    • Contact us
    • Bylines Network
    • Complaints
    • Newsletter
    • Privacy Policy
    • Donate
    • Pecksniff’s Diary
  • UK
  • Anglia
  • About us
  • UK
  • Anglia

© 2022 East Anglia Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • News
    • Brexit
    • Health
    • Education
    • World
  • Opinion
  • Politics
    • Local government
    • Justice
    • Activism
  • Climate
    • Environment
  • Lifestyle
    • Community
    • Culture
    • History
    • Humour
    • Property
  • Business
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Transport
    • Farming
  • ANGLIA
    • East Anglia
    • Bedfordshire
    • Cambridgeshire
    • Essex
    • Hertfordshire
    • Norfolk
    • Suffolk

© 2022 East Anglia Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In