Dangerous sewage is being spread on fields that feed us

I HAVE spent most of my adult life thinking about food: where it comes from, how it is grown, and what ends up on our plates.

- Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Good food depends on healthy soil and clean water. Without those foundations, everything in our food system becomes extremely precarious.

That is why it is deeply troubling that water companies in England are paid to process industrial and landfill leachate, much of it containing PEAS or “forever chemicals”, microplastics and other hazardous contaminants.

Government data shows that nine English water firms, including Thames Water, United Utilities and Severn Trent, processed more than 500,000 tonnes of sewage sludge destined for agriculture in 2024.

Much of this sludge is sold or given to farmers, who unknowingly spread it on their fields.

It is not just household waste. Environment Agency sources recently told Greenpeace that many water firm contracts allow businesses to dispose of industrial waste, including chemical waste and landfill leachate, via the sewer system.

This means much of it ends up in sludge untreated. A lot of this material would normally be classed as hazardous. Clearly the resulting sludge is itself dangerous to human health.

This is not a niche environmental concern. It goes to the heart of public health, river pollution, food safety and the long-term viability of farming.

Most people reasonably assume that waste handled by water firms is treated to remove dangerous chemicals before it enters the food system.