Elly Platt: Revealing river pollution – stitch by stitch

Added: 28th October 2024

The Great UK WaterBlitz is a biannual campaign calling on everyone to go out and test the quality of their local freshwater including rivers, streams and lakes. This helps to build a national picture of water quality across the UK. Hear from our WaterBlitz Champion, Elly Platt, why she decided to take action for her local river and how the experience has inspired a new art project.

Diving into the history of my local river

I’ve lived along the River Wandle for about 14 years now. It’s got a really interesting history as a textile production site. The fact that it’s a fast-flowing chalk stream, reasonably shallow, and has quite a steep trajectory going downhill makes it ideal for turning water wheels and powering mills. From the 17th century onwards, it became essential for various industries like paper milling, gunpowder, flour, and different types of dyes for the textile industry. A couple of really famous names in British textiles, including William Morris, had workshops along the Wandle.

The story of a river’s death…

By the second half of the 20th century, other types of urban industry had taken over. A lot of the businesses used the river as somewhere to dump their industrial waste. There are photos of the river in the 1950s and 60s where it just looks horrible! It flows through a concrete culvert, and there’s lots of foam floating on the surface. The river was declared dead at one point. Some of the local residents were so horrified, they came up with a plan to restore the river. But they realised quickly that they needed everyone within the river catchment to get on board. So they made connections between all four London boroughs where the river flows through. They also got Thames Water involved, which was a publicly owned company at the time.

…and a river’s recovery!

Some of the concrete culverting was removed and natural banks reinstated. They’ve got a gravel bed which the chalk stream habitat really needs. The Wandle Trail was created, which is a footpath that runs alongside. It links up parks and other public green spaces. Most of the time it’s framed by rather wild nature with lots of ivy, nettles and other plants providing really great wildlife habitat. You see birds and pollinators live and thrive there. They also reintroduced different types of fish. There’s a local anglers’ association who keep an eye on the river. In the 2000s, there was a point when the Wandle could be seen as a success story again.

Sewage and other new challenges

Today the Wandle has a lot of people looking after it, including the South East Rivers Trust who organise river clean-ups. One of the parks that the Wandle flows through is looked after by the National Trust. Unfortunately, there are also new challenges! One problem is that water companies (now being privately owned) discharge raw sewage into the river. Three or four miles from the start of the river, there are the sewage works in Beddington. In 2023, there was a record of 326 discharges in 2023, almost one a day! Sewage discharge is a provision in the case of an emergency such as ongoing heavy downpour. But the reality is water companies are not just using it in emergencies. They’re using it almost constantly.

There’s still a part of the river where I would say it’s safe to paddle, but when I see people further downstream in the water, I think “no, thank you!” It does worry and sadden me, because this river is such an amazing resource for these boroughs. The parks are a real asset to the community. So it’s even more important that the river is safe.

Revealing what’s below the (water) surface

It was great knowing that I wasn’t doing the water testing in isolation. Taking part in the Great UK WaterBlitz was also a real chance to find out what’s going on underneath the surface of the Wandle! I remember the moment the test results were ready, and I started comparing the two test tubes to the colour chart to match up the shades of pink. When I looked up what’s the ideal amount of nitrate and phosphate for a river, I was shocked! It’s less than half of what my tests were showing.

Using the power of art to raise awareness

It has been really difficult for me to accept that this river that actually looked quite healthy to me was not healthy at all. I started to wonder: how can I best present my findings to people to raise awareness for this issue? How could I somehow tell people not to believe their eyes?

Inspired by my WaterBlitz experience, I started embroidering photographs of the Wandle. They’re photographs that I’ve taken myself and then printed onto fabric. Using the colour charts that Earthwatch Europe sent me as part of the WaterBlitz as a reference, I’ve tried to match up the colours of my embroidery thread with the pink shades representing the different levels of nitrates and phosphates in the water. I embroidered the reeds and the trees to create this lovely, luscious feel of a landscape. But then you’ve got this river that’s embroidered in quite a bright pink, which is a visual clue that something isn’t quite right… I hope that my artwork will make people think about their own local environment, and that it will help bring the data to life. If I can encourage anyone to speak up for the Wandle in whatever way they choose, then it’s succeeding!

Looking twice – becoming a river detective

One of the things that I used to struggle to get my head around is why one section of the Wandle was considered moderate, another section was actually considered bad. Interestingly, that area isn’t affected by the Beddington sewage works. I decided to investigate this phenomenon.

The point of origin of the river is two streams in a village called Carshalton, which looks like your ideal little British village. There are two small ponds, then the water flows through a nice little park, followed by a nature reserve. And then the two parts of the Wandle join up, flow through Hackbridge, and come out at Mitcham. There’s no heavy industry in that area. There’s no farming. It’s mainly a residential area.

I tried to look at the area with fresh eyes. The ponds in Carshalton just have a concrete base. The main reason that there are ducks and swans and Canada geese probably is that people come and feed them regularly, not because it offers great wildlife habitat! Then there’s the road running right along the edge of it. Although it’s just a little B-road, it does have constant traffic. There’re no reed beds or anything to absorb the road runoff. Perhaps the council is using pesticides that is washed into the river. People might be using pesticides in their own gardens bordering the river.

I realised that the issue of water pollution is not something we can simplify. There isn’t just one super-villain that we can blame like certain water companies.

The other issue is that we see what we want to see. But appearances can be deceptive! The number of wildlife populations around the world has shrunk by nearly 70% in the last 50 years, and the UK is in the bottom 10% globally for biodiversity. We owe it to our wildlife and our natural spaces to do our bit and make sure that they are healthy from the inside out. They shouldn’t just be pleasing to our eyes on a surface level, but they should be functioning as an ecosystem with the best possible chance for as many creatures as possible to thrive.

Why other people should join the fight for healthy fresh water

I for my part will continue with the water testing. To anyone considering to join the next Great UK WaterBlitz I would say: this a chance to discover the hidden stories of your local river! Although finding out more about your local water quality is just the start of the journey if you want to fight for improvements, it is important to have this information at your fingertips. When you do have scientific data to back up what you’re saying, this will immediately make your point more serious.  

The other advantage is that you become part of a community of citizen scientists. You are no longer on your own looking after your own little patch. People all over Britain will be out doing the water testing, collecting data and fighting for the same cause. 

For me, taking part in the WaterBlitz has been a completely new way of connecting with and learning about my local river. I’m a not a scientist, but I realised I can still help gather data and visualise it with my artistic skills. It’s really important to know about the invisible pollutants that might be affecting our rivers even when they look healthy, to make sure we can give our waterways the care they need and prevent sources of pollution wherever we can. 

This October, I was thrilled to attend the pre-launch event the night before Earthwatch published the September Great UK WaterBlitz report. It was a chance to present my artwork and to have conversations with like-minded people who also care deeply about the health of fresh water in the UK. You can see more of my work on my Instagram account @takeitupwearitout.

Discover more about the Great UK WaterBlitz and how to join the next campaign weekend. Learn more about FreshWater Watch in the UK and how to become part of our global community of freshwater citizen scientists.