27 Mar 2025
Image description: Blue car sharply turning, spraying mud and water. Photo by Nikky Almon / Pexels. Data obtained by ENDS through Freedom of Information legislation has revealed the locations of outfalls which are classed in the National Highway’s Water Quality Plan as having a potentially ‘high risk’ or ‘very high risk’ of channelling polluted […]
07 Aug 2024
In response to last week’s news on the government’s review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), an interesting debate on social media around highway drainage. In short, given that 30%-70% of storm flows in combined sewers are from roads and footpaths, should more of the cost of managing these flows be picked up by highway […]
17 Jul 2024
Interesting piece in New Civil Engineer Water running off roads in the UK is carrying pollution into the country’s waterways and causing “catastrophic damage”, but the issue has “flown under the radar” according to a new whitepaper from Keyline Civils Specialist. The report states that there are 1 million instances in the UK where water […]
14 May 2024
A report launched by Stormwater Shepherds and CIWEM shines a light on the toxic cocktail of pollutants that runs off the UK’s road network and into our rivers and water sources every time it rains. The pollution comes from tyre particles, fuel spills and other vehicle fluids, road surface fragments, sediment and herbicides. These contain […]
07 Feb 2024
A toxic mix of oil, chemicals and bits of tyre from roads is polluting English waterways and no-one is regularly monitoring it, the BBC has found. Heavy rain forces run-off into streams and rivers. Campaigners say it causes “absolutely horrific” damage in places, including just downstream of where The Great British Bake Off is filmed. […]
18 Oct 2023
A new online tool which highlights where the opportunities are to install nature-based solutions, such as wetlands, to tackle road runoff pollution before it ends up in London’s rivers has gone live. The nation’s rivers are polluted. Along with sewer overflows, littering and misconnected drains, pollution from our roads adds to this cocktail of pollution. Road runoff […]