Unfortunately in the last few months water quality has been in the news a lot. I wrote this haibun (a Japanese form, with prose followed by a haiku) for the May edition of our parish newsletter, The Nut Tree. I felt it would be a fitting framework for the subject of sewage pollution. I hope you find the tips for reducing water pollution at the bottom of the article useful.
Sea Swimming Back to the Future
In the mid-eighties, sewage on Downderry and Seaton beaches was discussed at almost every parish council meeting. I was still at school, but had a job as a reporter for the Cornish Times, earning £6 a column. I’d sit shyly at the front watching photos pass as horrified councillors shook their heads, a court looking at crime-scene images. Poorly focused shots of tampons lying between heart-stones, toilet paper woven into bladderwrack, faeces among the shillet, all captured on 35mm film, processed by Boots in Liskeard. Anecdotes of sickness and dogs rolling in filth filled my word-count until a new treatment-plant was built at Portwrinkle. We celebrated as our beaches flew blue-flags and other than the odd bit of litter-picking after a storm, we took their cleanliness for granted.
Now raw effluent is dumped up-stream into Seaton river, even on days without rain. We check daily for sewage reports, our beach-clean bags bulging with plastic tampon-applicators and cotton-bud straws.
Seaton. Sun rises.
We Glide through silken water
Our mouths firmly shut
What can we do? My advice; keep pressure up on our local MP to push for more stringent regulations, inspections and fines. It’s worth watching Channel 4’s brilliant but hard-hitting documentary Dirty Business. Until the situation is improved we need to reduce how much fluid goes down the drains; avoid flushing the toilet, shower and bath less, only wash clothes when they are actually dirty. Consider installing a compost toilet if this is an option available to you. Although this situation is undoubtedly caused by lack of investment, until this mess is sorted we need to do all we can to help. And please don’t ever flush plastic applicators or cotton buds down the toilet.
