Sewage in rivers: just 14% of the country’s rivers were classed as healthy

In England’s North West the river Dee has always been popular with swimmers but in 2021 a high amount of wastewater was pumped in which made the water quality not good. Discharging sewage into rivers has been used for years and the water firms have said there is no alternative because of the state of the sewers. The network combines sewage and rainfall in the same pipes and when it rains heavily, the system cannot cope.