Thames River

"The warning was stern: Do not enter the water. Not because of the tide. Not because of sharks. Because of the sewage. For almost two centuries, rowers from Oxford University have raced their rivals from Cambridge in a contest that typically ends with jubilant members of the victorious crew jumping into the River Thames in celebration. This year they will be staying as dry as possible. After the discovery of elevated levels of E. coli in the river, rowers have been urged to stay out of the water, to cover any open wounds and to wash themselves down at a dedicated cleansing station at the finish."

"Fifty years after being declared biologically dead, the Thames has been hailed as an environmental success story . . . It teems with life: 125 species of fish swim beneath its surface while more than 400 species of invertebrates live in the mud, water and river banks. Waterfowl, waders and sea birds feed off the rich pickings in the water while seals, dolphins and even otters are regularly spotted between the river banks where it meanders through London."

The Thiess International Riverprize was first awarded in 1999, and has grown to become the one of the world's most prestigious environmental award. A £220,000 award given to rivers that have undergone outstanding restoration...."Environmental officials now say the Thames is the cleanest it has been in more than 150 years and nearly 400 habitats have now been created to allow wildlife back into the river."

“Otters in Britain, which only 30 years ago were thought to be on the brink of extinction, have made a remarkable comeback and are now to be found almost everywhere, according to a report published today by the Environment Agency. Where once the population may have been as low as a few hundred, it is now thought to run into thousands...The otter's return is attributed to the ban on organo-chlorine pesticides in the 1970s and its designation as a protected species. Improved river water quality has also brought back greater numbers of fish such as salmon.”

"...A northern bottlenose whale measuring around 17 feet and weighing up to 7 tons was spotted today heading upstream near the London Eye Ferris Wheel, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben... Experts said it was the only whale-sighting in over 90 years of formal records... To reach central London, moreover, the whale must have crossed the Thames Barrier, a series of movable gates downstream from central London designed to guard the city from flooding."

"The Environment Act 1995 established the Environment Agency (EA) in England... The EA assumed various responsibilities of the National Rivers Authority (NRA), the waste regulation and disposal authorities and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP)."

"Scientists started a small salmon stocking program in the Thames in the late 1970's, encouraged by the return of other species and the surprise finding of a stray salmon caught in a power station screen. It was the first salmon seen in the Thames in 140 years....Scientists are a step closer to nurturing a self-sustaining strain of salmon in the Thames River, 160 years after the indigenous species were wiped out by pollution and impassable dams...more than 300 salmon, including 30 bred from earlier Thames returnees, have returned so far this year.”

“This is the key piece of legislation relating to water pollution. Under the Act it is an offence to allow any polluting, poisonous or noxious material (including solid waste matter) to enter a ‘controlled water', without a consent, or outside of the terms of the consent issued by the Environment Agency or SEPA."

"Stewart Grainger, speaking for the British Information Service, said the Thames has become the cleanest metropolitan estuary in the world and numerous varieties of fish and fowl have returned. Mallards, sea swallows and herons can all be found along the river's edge. Flounder, Dover sole, cod and salmon, which disappeared from the river in the 1830's, are once again swimming there in large numbers."

Sewage eflluents                            74%

Direct industrial discharges          9%

Rivers                                                6.5%

Upper freshwater Thames            7.5%

Storm water                                      3%

“Today, Reuters reports, there are 83 species of fish in the Thames estuary, including salmon for the first time in 141 years…. Given enough time, we may yet save our rivers — but not without an investment of work and money proportionately comparable to England's.”

Responsible for issuing consents for discharges of trade and sewage effluent. Authorities now review consents and conditions from time to time and revoke the consent if it was reasonable to do so or modify the conditions if pollution caused by the discharge was 'injurious to fauna and flora'. Under COPA, a person is guilty of an offence if he causes, or knowingly permits: any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to enter any stream or controlled waters; any matter to enter a stream so as to impede the proper flow of water within the stream in a manner leading or likely to lead to a substantial aggravation of pollution; any solid waste matter to enter a stream or restricted water.

“Antipollution efforts are progressing, with varied success, in a great part of the world… Londoners, for example, could take satisfaction in a 70 percent increase in sunshine as a result of cleaner-air regulations. Trout and pike are also being caught again in the London dock area of a cleaner Thames river.”

"For the first time in recent memory, a child was baptized this week by the River Thames…It was another sign that London's river is becoming cleaner every year through the increasing efforts of the Port of London Authority and the Greater London Council….The Thames, once too polluted to support fish life between Kew and Gravesend, is now reported clean enough for a carp to be found opposite House of Parliament.”