Sewage pollution in UK rivers has become a major, but not always visible, problem with invisible outlets.
Now, experts have imagined what our rivers will look like if the crisis is not resolved, using AI-generated images of our beloved waterways.
Rotting fish bob in the Thames below Westminster Bridge, while algae and debris clog the Wye, Ouse, Eden and Severn.
This is, of course, an illustration and not a data-driven diagram of what our river will look like in the future.
But the shock factor is meant to make people think about what they are doing to our environment.
The water company has hit back, saying the image is fictional and will never happen, as it invests billions of pounds to better manage waste.
But Utility Bidder, a comparison firm for services like water and electricity, said in its 2024 Water Pollution Report that our sewage problem is getting worse, with record numbers of spills nationwide.
Rising sea levels and wetter weather from climate change are set to put more strain on sewage networks, so we created an AI image using Midjourney and Adobe Firefly to show what we claim we will face one day without effective action.
“Heavy and prolonged rainfall can overwhelm the UK’s drainage infrastructure, particularly in the wetter months,” it said in the report.
‘This can have unfortunate consequences, with sewers overflowing and leaking into our pristine rivers. Sewage pollution can seriously damage wildlife and the natural environment and pose a health risk to humans and nearby animals.’
To create the image, he used an original photo of the river as a base and then asked the AI to alter the image to show a polluted river, green algae, plastic waste, and dead fish, blending the two images together in Photoshop.
A spokesman for the water company Severn Trent came out on the AI images saying they were ‘fiction with no basis in fact’.
He said that ‘misleading content like this does nothing but spread false information and cause unnecessary concern in the public’ and said that he is working hard to invest and reduce sewage spills including a £250 million investment in Worcestershire just to add 134 storm surges. ‘invest more and progress faster than other water companies’.
“In 2030, our operations will be responsible for c2% of the reason for the river not meeting a good ecological status which is ahead of the government’s target and we lead the way in England,” they added.
Thames Water says it is also upgrading its capabilities, with the £4.5 billion Tideway Tunnel ‘super sewer’ and other investments set to ‘capture 95% of the volume of untreated sewage that currently enters the tidal Thames in a typical year’.
A spokesman said: “Our region has had its wettest winter on record this year, causing groundwater and river levels to rise. At times, our sewerage systems are overflowing and causing discharges into rivers.
“We know how much people love and value rivers, and we are committed to seeing the waterways thrive, but we cannot do it alone. Farming, industry, road runoff, wildlife and increasingly extreme weather also play a role in river health.’
What causes sewage pollution in UK rivers?
The most famous reason is that it is discharged through storm overflows called CSOs: combined sewer overflows.
These are overflow valves designed to release sewage into the river during heavy rains.
If this does not happen, there will be a risk of the pipes being overwhelmed until the sewage is made back to people’s homes, which will be controversial (can’t say).
But instead of only being used in exceptional rainfall, they have become very dependent on the whole country.
Water pollution can also enter the river through misconnections, where faulty pipe work connects toilets and showers directly to water lines instead of sewers that will take them to treatment.
A Water UK spokesman said: ‘No sewage spill is acceptable and the water company has proposed investing £11 billion – three times the current level – to stop sewage entering rivers and seas. Ofwat must approve this plan in full.’
The government’s Discharge Reduction Plan says that by 2025, water companies will reduce flood discharges from 2020 levels by around 25%, as part of a £60bn mandatory investment programme.
If the AI river doesn’t float your boat, we go to a real river where sanitary towels and wet wipes are available every day: the Brent River in west London, which receives all the sewage and sewage from dozens of homes. because the misconnections are assumed to have existed since the initial construction.
Contact the news team by emailing webnews@metro.co.uk.
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