Did you watch Dirty Business on Channel 4 this week?

‘Dirty Business’ on Channel 4 this week put the national sewage scandal front and centre.

If you’ve been watching Dirty Business on Channel 4 this week, you’ll know this isn’t just a grim story about one river in Oxfordshire. It’s the story of rivers all over England — including the Erme.

We’re told that things have changed — that record investment is being made in preventing storm overflows polluting our rivers.

The data on the River Erme tells its own story:

Ivybridge SO — active since 13th January, 44 days

Kingston SSO — active since 16th January, 41 days

Sewage spilled for a total of approx. 295 days in 2025 across the whole Erme catchment

*SSO – Settled Storm Overflow / SO – Sewage Storm Overflow

These spills don’t only happen during heavy rainfall. They continue long after. The River Erme is a river people swim in, a habitat wildlife depends on, and a place this community cares deeply about — it deserves better.

If Dirty Business has moved you to take action you can:

Support our own water quality monitoring programme — John Mildmay-White is running 600km from the Erme to Westminster to fund the science that holds polluters to account.
Sign the Surfers Against Sewage petition calling on the government to put public health before profit.

There has been progress. But we are still living with the consequences of decades of neglect — and Wild About The Erme River will keep monitoring, recording, and speaking up for the Erme.