Citizen action on water pollution at Higher Level: This statement is Higher Level only. It shows how ordinary people, alone or in groups, have cut water pollution, from what they flush to the courts.
Practise this as you read
- Outline different kinds of citizen action.
- Evaluate how effective citizen action is, using real cases.
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Pollution starts at home, and so can the fix: Much water pollution comes from millions of small actions: what we flush, wash and spray. Changing them is the first kind of citizen action.
Changes to consumption and waste disposal
- Waste disposal: wet wipes, fat and oil go in the bin, not down the toilet or sink.
- Return old medicines to a pharmacy; never pour paint or chemicals down a drain.
- Consumption: choose phosphate-free detergents and products without microplastics.
- Use less fertiliser and pesticide on gardens and farms.
- Educate others: small actions by millions of people add up.
Remember it as: Bin it, don't flush it; choose it, don't spray it.
Real example: microbeads were in many face scrubs until public campaigns and shoppers turned against them. The UK banned them in rinse-off products in 2018.
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Some pollution can only be stopped by changing the law. Citizens push for that by protesting and lobbying.
Peaceful protest and lobbying lawmakers
- Peaceful protest: marches, sit-ins and 'paddle-outs' draw the media and the public.
- Lobbying lawmakers: petitions, letters and meetings push politicians to change the law.
- Campaign groups keep up the pressure for years.
- New laws then force companies and governments to act.
- Protest works best with evidence behind it.
Remember it as: Make noise, then make law.
1990
- Surfers in Cornwall, tired of getting ill after surfing near sewage outfalls, set up Surfers Against Sewage.
Protest
- They held peaceful protests on beaches, including 'paddle-outs' of surfers and swimmers, which drew the media.
Data
- In 2023 England's storm overflows released sewage 464,056 times. The group's app warns swimmers when sewage has just been released.
Law
- After lobbying and a public outcry, the Environment Act 2021 made water companies legally responsible for cutting the harm from storm overflows.
Officials cannot test every river every week. Citizens can, and their data become evidence.
Data collection and research
- Citizen science: volunteers collect water samples and record wildlife.
- It gives far more data than officials alone could collect, at many places and times.
- Data are evidence: they show where and when pollution happens.
- Evidence wins designations, news coverage and court cases.
- Limit: volunteer data may be questioned unless methods are standard and checked.
Remember it as: Sample it, record it, prove it.
River
Families swim in the River Wharfe at Ilkley, Yorkshire, below a sewage works and storm overflows.
Sampling
From 2018 the Ilkley Clean River Group's volunteers took water samples and paid to have them tested for E. coli bacteria from sewage.
Evidence
Many samples had high bacteria. The group used the data to apply for official 'bathing water' status; 998 of 1,073 public responses backed it.
Result
In December 2020 it became the UK's first river bathing water: the government must now test it, and the water company must act.
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When officials ignore the evidence, citizens can go to court. Flint, Michigan, used every kind of action.
Legal teams
- Citizens can form legal teams, often with environmental charities.
- They sue a company or government for breaking pollution or drinking-water laws.
- Courts can order a clean-up and compensation.
- Court cases are slow and costly, so they need evidence and funding.
- One case can set a precedent for others.
Remember it as: Evidence first, then lawyers: courts can force a clean-up.
2014
- To save money, Flint switched its water to the Flint River without adding a chemical to stop the water eating into old lead pipes.
Data
- A mother, LeeAnne Walters, found lead in her tap water. With Virginia Tech scientists, residents collected over 800 samples across the city.
Research
- In 2015 a local doctor, Mona Hanna-Attisha, showed that children with high lead in their blood had doubled, from 2.4% to 4.9%. The city switched back.
Court
- Residents and charities sued. A 2017 settlement gave 97 million dollars to replace the city's lead pipes.
Strengths
- Evidence officials cannot ignore.
- Courts can force action.
Limits
- Slow: years of harm first.
- Costly; needs skilled helpers.
Lesson
- Actions work best combined.
- Data, protest and law together.
How this comes up: Paper 1: a fact file on a pollution case, with 'explain how citizens helped' [3-4]. Paper 2: 'outline ways individuals can reduce water pollution' [4], or 'evaluate the role of citizen action' [7].
Untreated sewage is released into the River Thames in London after heavy rain, and local rowing clubs want it stopped.
Outline four different ways in which citizens could help to reduce this pollution.
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