Is treated sewage worse for the environment than raw?

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2024

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There has been increasing public outrage at raw sewage discharges into our rivers and seas, but new research at Lake Windermere suggests that treated sewage is as much to blame. Wastewater experts Simon Evans and Ali Morse get into the nitty gritty of sewage treatment and why it might be causing so many problems.

Last week, the Sumatran orangutan Rakus made headlines when he was spotted by researchers treating a wound with a medicinal plant. A first for a wild animal. But he’s not the only animal to show self-medicating behaviour. Biologist and author of Wild Health, Cindy Engel, talks healing in the wild and what we can learn from the animals that do it.

And it’s that time of year again: the Eurovision Song Contest. In fact, this year marks the 50th Anniversary since ABBA won the 1974 contest with the iconic track Waterloo. Psychology and behavioural researcher Harry Witchel tells us what gives songs at Eurovision a winning edge and tries to predict a winner based on his criteria.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Hannah Robins, Ella Hubber, Sophie Ormiston Researcher: Caitlin Kennedy Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and maybe it's when I had a hand in.
0:04.0	I'm Tammy Walker and I produce podcasts for the BBC.
0:08.0	My role is to give new and diverse creators a voice with the opportunity to build a career.
0:12.0	That's the thing I love about podcasts.
0:14.4	You start with just a good idea, but then you have the space to see where it goes.
0:18.4	And doing that at the BBC means we can really run with the best stories
0:21.9	while developing the most unique audio talent.
0:24.8	So if you like what you hear, why not check out the huge range of podcast we've got on BBC Sounds.
0:31.6	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:36.2	Welcome to the podcast of BBC Inside Science
0:40.2	first broadcast on the 9th of May 2024 with me Marnie Chesterton.
0:45.0	Coming up, Animal Doctors and What They Can Teach Us and It's Eurovision Season
0:50.4	So is there a science to picking a winner? But before that, I want to talk
0:55.3	sewage. I read stories every single day about pollution in some part of the UK's
1:01.2	rivers and beaches. A mere 16% of England's waterways are rated as having
1:07.5	a good ecological status, and today the Office for Environmental Protection described the government's cleanup efforts as poor
1:15.6	and way off track, the target being 77% healthy rivers in the next two and a half years. The usual culprits are runoff from
1:25.2	agriculture and roads and just raw sewage entering our rivers, lakes and
1:30.2	seas. But here's another source you might not have considered.
1:34.0	According to new research at Lake Windermere, treated sewage is as much to blame for issues
1:40.1	like algal blooms, which turned the water a vivid green colour and suck up all the oxygen
1:46.0	creating dead zones that kill fish and other aquatic life.
	...

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