A family has issued an urgent warning after a 13-year-old girl became “violently” ill when she went swimming in the River Severn.
Lindsey Hall said her daughter Amelia Deakin-Hall fell ill after she went paddling with a friend in the River Severn earlier this month. The mum-and-daughter duo enjoyed a walk around the Trimpley Reservoir in Bewdley, Worcestershire with Amelia’s friend and her mum on August 11.
After the 3.4-kilometre stroll, the quartet went to the “clear-looking” river close by. Amelia and her friend enjoyed diving and “being silly” in the river, but appeared to have accidentally swallowed some of the water.
Lindsey, a civil servant, said Amelia began to experience awful stomach cramps, was projectile vomiting and couldn’t breathe properly. The concerned 45-year-old mum rang 111 and an ambulance was dispatched to check on young Amelia.
Her vitals were checked and a GP appointment was arranged where Amelia was given anti-sickness medication. Lindsey, meanwhile, reported what happened to the Environment Agency and was told the stretch of the river is an “undesignated bathing spot” they are not legally required to test the water quality of.
The mum is concerned faecal matter could have been in the water at the time due to overflow from sewage treatment works. Water companies are sometimes allowed to spill some water into open water after heavy rainfall to prevent the system from becoming overloaded.
Severn Trent Water said a number of factors make up the health of a river such as industry and agriculture, and any concerns about a particular stretch should be reported to them and the Environment Agency so the correct investigations can be carried out. The water company said that it had investigated and “can confirm it isn’t in any way connected to Severn Trent”, as they do not have a storm overflow in the area.
The company said: “Many factors make up the health of a river such as industry and agriculture, and any concerns about a particular stretch should be reported to us and the Environment Agency so the correct investigations can be carried out.
“We have investigated this and we can confirm it isn’t in any way connected to Severn Trent,” the company said “Our operations are working as they should and we don’t have a storm overflow in the area.”
Concerns over water quality in rivers and coastal areas remain and chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Witty warned in May that an upgrade to the UK’s sewage systems was needed.
In a report produced by an engineers group, Sir Chris said there was only “thin” evidence people had become ill from ingesting traces of sewage. Instead, the report said an uptick in people taking to the water to swim along with “evidence of the underperformance of overloaded sewers” could increase the chances of people ingesting human faecal matter.
Lindsey has continued to suggest people avoid swimming in undesignated beauty spots. Amelia thankfully recovered from the ordeal, but her friend also became ill.
Lindsey, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, said: “Amelia’s friend had been sick through the night and then Amelia started being sick as well on Wednesday, so I knew straight away it was the river. I came back from work, I’d been on a night shift, and was about to get into bed and she started spewing.
“It was violent projectile vomiting. She couldn’t breathe, it was horrific and it was relentless.
“We’d not eaten anything differently, we’d all eaten the same thing for tea. Both of them swallowed river water, it couldn’t be anything else. If it had been a tummy bug even I would have been sick.
“I rang 111 for their advice and they sent the ambulance. They [the staff] did all her vitals. She was still being sick and couldn’t even keep any water down after four hours so [during a phone consultation] got anti-sickness tablets.”
Lindsey continued: “We did a really nice walk all around Trimpley Reservoir [and then went to the river]. There’s an area that’s stoned over, almost like a little stoney beach and there’s a rope swing down there.
“The canoes stop there for their lunch, it’s a known paddling area, it’s not unusual for people to be in the water. There were three other large groups there while we were there in the water too.
“The water looked clear, there was no smell and fish were swimming. It just looked like a lovely little natural spot that was fine. I went in but only up to knee length. The girls were messing about and going under the water as well.
“The girls were up to their waists but doing little dives in, falling backwards and being silly – just enjoying themselves. Amelia felt fine there, no sign of anything then 36 hours later Amelia was ill.”
Lindsey also said she spotted a news article about the location they had been swimming in. “There’s a sewage outlet upstream so the water would be flowing down to where we were,” she suggested.
“I just think it’s shocking raw sewage can be pumped into rivers. I don’t understand how it’s acceptable considering it’s just metres from a main water supply [the reservoir]. I’m really gobsmacked about it, it doesn’t seem right. It’s put Amelia off paddling in future.
“It’s been horrible watching her be so ill, but they’re both ok now. We go to the seaside, we have paddleboards and we bodyboard – we quite like water sports.
“They do kayaking down there and we were talking about booking that and how nice it would be there’s no chance we’ll be doing that now. My advice would be not to go into any areas that aren’t designated bathing spots. I didn’t even know they were a thing before this happened.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Many popular swimming spots are designated as bathing waters, meaning they are monitored and protected from sources of pollution known to be a risk to human health. The River Severn near Trimpley Reservoir is not a designated bathing water. If members of the public decide to swim in a river which is not a designated bathing site, our ‘swim healthy’ advice is available online.”
Bacteria in rivers can come from a number of sources, the agency said. This includes urban drainage, wildlife, pets and livestock.
Undesignated areas may be more susceptible to becoming contaminated with this sort of problem because rivers and other open water locations that are not designated as bathing waters are managed for the purpose of protecting fish and wildlife. Therefore, health risks from using these locations may be higher than at designated bathing waters.
Despite a range of factors affecting different parts of the UK, environmental campaigners have continued to express dismay at the state of the country’s waters. Green groups and sporting bodies will take to the streets of London in October for a march in the autumn to call for clean water.
Environmental activist and singer Feargal Sharkey will be joining the wide range of groups including River Action, Greenpeace, the Wildlife Trusts, British Rowing and British Canoeing for the protest on October 26. The former Undertones frontman said it was time for everyone to demand action from leaders as the campaigners urge members of the public to join the demonstration through central London to Parliament Square. October 26 will mark 100 days since the beginning of the current Labour Government.
The UK has been facing a growing water quality crisis due to a multitude of factors such as ageing water infrastructure, lack of investment from water firms, a growing population, agriculture runoff and industrial pollution.
The cocktail of raw sewage, agricultural waste, chemical pollutants and plastic is presenting increasing risks to human health as well as untold damage to nature. Protesters will therefore call for prime minister Sir Keir Starmer to take immediate and decisive action by including a set of measures in the legislation that will end the pollution of Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas.
This includes a plan to address the continuous illegal dumping of raw sewage by the water companies, a full set of solutions to end all other major sources of water pollution, and reforming the regulatory system, including Ofwat and the Environment Agency, so the law can be effectively enforced against polluters.
Mr Sharkey said: “We call on the Government to end the environmental devastation being inflicted upon our rivers, lakes and seas. It stops here, it stops today, it stops now. End pollution, end polluting for profit. We call on everyone in the country who is concerned or angry at the state of our waters to join us and march.”
An Environment Department (DEFRA) spokesperson said: “We share the public’s anger on this issue and have taken immediate steps to reverse the tide on the unacceptable destruction of our waterways.
“Our Water Bill will include new powers to ban bonuses and bring criminal charges against lawbreakers. This is just the first step in our wider reform of the sector. This Government will never look the other way while water companies pump record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.”
