Our recent presentation by Alan Horn, Chair of The Bedfordshire Great Ouse Valley Environmental Trust to the Riverfield community at Barkers Lane Reading Room was very well attended with a full house, including The Mayor, Tom Wooton. Updating the findings over the past year by BedsGOVET of sources of pollution and the general poor state […]
Our recent presentation by Alan Horn, Chair of The Bedfordshire Great Ouse Valley Environmental Trust to the Riverfield community at Barkers Lane Reading Room was very well attended with a full house, including The Mayor, Tom Wooton.
Updating the findings over the past year by BedsGOVET of sources of pollution and the general poor state of the River Great Ouse, was very well received by a full room of local residents in the Riverfield estate and sparked many questions about the issues.
A key issue raised about the pollution, was regarding the smells emanating from the Anglian Water sewage treatment plant close to their homes.
Poor river state nationally reflected locally
The audience were highly surprised and shocked to learn that only 14% of rivers in England have good ecological status and none have good chemical status. More worrying to them was that is this is reflected in their local river, where in 2024 the dumping of partially or untreated sewage for an outrageous 4300 hours (the equivalent of 6 months continuous discharging) was recorded from the two main outlets at Odell and Bedford, with the latter failing to inform the Environment Agency on over 70% of its discharges.
Alan Horn explained that the levels of pollution that BedsGOVET is finding from its laboratory tests are “nothing short of scandalous “with the main Bedford CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow) located behind the Riverfield Estate regularly recording
e- coli at a minimum of 11 times above Ofwat safe bathing standards.
Sharing test results
In fact, at 8 out of 16 sites tested by our volunteers on Monday 21st July, between Turvey and Great Barford, the levels of e coli were either above or worryingly above the safe bathing standard, with Cardington Lock, frequently used by wild swimmers, recording 4000 E- coli cfus/100mls.
E coli can cause a number of serious illnesses and some can be life threatening.
Going Forwards
It is unlikely that recent government announcements will improve the way in which our
rivers are being used as open sewers by water companies as their ability to self-regulate will continue. A recent article in The Times* exposed that Anglian Water, the worst offender, caused 1347 sewage spills on dry days in January and February 2025. The water companies are only meant to use ‘spills’ for extraordinary weather conditions, as it is more dangerous to spill on dry days and puts swimmers and wildlife at greater risk because the sewage is not diluted by rainwater.
However, the work done by BedsGOVET volunteers in building strong relationships with the Environment Agency is starting to produce positive action in working to identify the sources and perpetrators. Also, the commitment of Bedford Borough Council to work closer with BedsGOVET on the matter is both welcomed and appreciated.
If you are interested in joining our science citizen charity, please do get in touch. We are a social bunch and always welcome new volunteers to help with this very important work to save our local river. You will get fully trained on our testing activities, or if you prefer to help spread the word, we are keen to get more assistance with our PR activities. Please contact Henry Lafferty for more information.
