01 Nov 2024
Members of the Ver Valley Society are joining the March for Clean Water in London on Sunday.
There have been over 2,600 hours of sewage discharges from Markyate sewage works directly into the River Ver again this year and this has prompted those who care for their local chalk stream to make the effort to protest in Parliament Square.
Chair of the society John Pritchard said: “There are groups coming from all around the country from the poisoned Lake Windemere to the often-polluted beaches of Cornwall. If you’d like to join us, dress in blue and be at St Albans City station for 9.30am for the photocall and then on to London.”
The organisations and individuals involved are calling on the Government to stop the poisoning of Britain’s waters. Genuine commitment, reform and investment are required if there’s to be a solution to the pollution of our rivers, lakes and seas.
Locally, the River Ver has been suffering from sewage pollution for over 40 years. In years of high groundwater, the works at Markyate can’t cope and the discharges into the Ver can last for months on end.
This leaves the headwaters of the Ver coated in sewage fungus reducing the river, which should be clean and clear, to a grey lifeless disaster. Brown trout can’t live in sewage. What’s more, as the society’s work revealed earlier this year, it can result in E. coli levels well in excess of bathing water standard, leaving local residents wondering if their river is safe to visit.
For further information visit riverver.co.uk
