Landmark research by physical geographers at the University has established that urban river beds can be heavily contaminated with microplastics. This research began about eight years ago as a curiosity-driven piece of river catchment science across Greater Manchester that quickly gained visibility beyond the academy to become part of a national debate about the state of Britain’s rivers, the environmental impact of sewage-dumping water companies, and years of failure to monitor and regulate water company activities.

A distinctive feature of the work at the University is a focus on the river bed environment. River beds are important habitats where countless creatures live, feed, and reproduce. If the river bed is contaminated with microplastics, these creatures are vulnerable to the ingestion of these contaminants. Mapping the geography of microplastic contamination on river beds at the catchment scale helps to establish the source of the microplastics and how we might shut them down.

The most important finding was recognising that the very presence of microplastics on river beds in high concentrations was a clear indication that wastewater treatment was not taking place as it should, and untreated wastewater and sewage was being discharged into low river flows outside of permitted conditions. Letting the hard won evidence do the talking has allowed us to shape key elements of national policy.

In January 2022, after a year-long inquiry into the state of rivers in England, the UK Government’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) published their report Water Quality in Rivers. Jamie Woodward gave written and oral evidence to the inquiry and provided a field demonstration to the EAC on how the University team samples microplastics on river beds. This led to a key recommendation in the report: “We recommend that the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs commission, in conjunction with the devolved administrations, a UK-wide survey of emerging pollutants and microplastic pollution of river environments, including an assessment of their potential impact on aquatic ecology. Researchers in Geography (SEED) are now helping the Environment Agency develop a national strategy for monitoring microplastic pollution in rivers.

• Watch the microplastics in UK rivers short animation.
• Listen to Drain and gain: Inside the sewage scandal poisining our rivers on Spotify.
• Read the 2021 Nature Sustainability paper.