{"id":694729,"date":"2026-07-16T11:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T11:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/694729\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T11:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T11:46:09","slug":"southern-water-admits-polluting-river-test-in-hampshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/694729\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern Water admits polluting River Test in Hampshire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  The prosecution stems from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyecho.co.uk\/news\/23662250.southern-water-faces-prosecution-pollution-river-test\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">a release of suspended solids and iron into the River Test<\/a> from its Fullerton wastewater treatment works near Stockbridge in March 2023.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The firm also failed to tell the Environment Agency when it spotted the problem, or that faulty equipment had caused it.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  On July 14, 2026, Southern Water admitted two charges at Medway Magistrates\u2019 Court.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyecho.co.uk\/news\/25332443.southern-water-responsible-huge-increase-pollution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Simon Moody of the Environment Agency said<\/a>: &#8220;Chalk streams like the River Test are precious, natural resources.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;But they are also fragile and this incident came to light thanks to the close eye we keep on their health.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Southern Water\u2019s safeguards which should have protected this chalk stream failed one by one.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;That\u2019s unacceptable. Chalk streams should be gin clear.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;Thorough maintenance and tested process would have prevented this.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  On March 13, 2023, routine Environment Agency checks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyecho.co.uk\/news\/23822295.southern-water-taken-court-pollution-river-test\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">detected dark particles in the River Test<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Upstream samples showed the pollution getting worse and traced it back to Southern Water\u2019s Fullerton site, nearly four miles away.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Staff at the works said only one of the four tanks meant to remove sludge and scum was working.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  One tank had been waiting for repairs for more than a year, and pump faults feeding the sand filter beds were logged days earlier.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Tests found more than triple the permitted level of suspended solids, plus excessive iron.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  It turned the water red and breached environmental rules.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The Environment Agency said salmon born in the River Test are genetically unique, making them less resilient and in need of clean, well-oxygenated water.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Southern Water also admitted it missed at least two chances to alert the Environment Agency.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The agency said the River Test\u2019s salmon are especially vulnerable to pollution because they need clean, oxygen-rich water.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Samples taken 11 days after the Environment Agency stepped in showed water quality had improved sharply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The prosecution stems from a release of suspended solids and iron into the River Test from its Fullerton&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-694729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}