All news about Contamination of water

The Cambridge men's team pass under Hammersmith Bridge during a training session on the River Thames in London on Tuesday

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Green News

Oxford coach blasts Thames pollution ahead of Boat Race with Cambridge

The race will put even more pressure on authorities to clean up rivers across the country, including the Thames.

29/03/2024

África Villén, centre, queues with other residents to collect drinking water from a tanker in Pozoblanco, 11 February 2024.

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Climate

Spanish citizens feel ‘abandoned’ after 10 months without clean water

Andalucía residents are afraid to wash their children with the tap water, and say even dogs refuse to drink it.

15/02/2024

The area affected by a landslide of several million tonnes contaminated soil near the village of Oelst, Randers, Denmark.

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Green News

Toxic landslide threatens environmental disaster in Denmark

After nine days, Nordic Waste - the company that operated the site - gave up on getting the landslide under control.

29/01/2024

Volunteers collect plastic pellets from a beach in Nigran, Pontevedra, Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.

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Green News

Millions of plastic pellets from Spanish spill could be eaten by fish

“The contamination of the oceans and ecosystems with plastics is one of the biggest problems faced by humanity,” Spain’s minister for the environment, Teresa Ribera, said.

09/01/2024

Testing water from the Seine last summer in preparation for the Paris Olympics. EU governments are discussing stricter pollution controls for all lakes and rivers.

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Green News

EU Policy. Belgium urged to advance extension of water pollutant watch list

Belgium plans to move forward a proposal to increase the number of water pollutants subject to strict concentration limits, to include PFAS 'forever chemicals' and dozens of others, the EU Council presidency holder has said amid calls from civil society and industry.

09/01/2024

Cleaning Europe's rivers: Meet the teams trying to turn the plastic tide

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Ocean

Cleaning Europe's rivers: Meet the teams turning the plastic tide

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

80% of ocean plastic pollution comes from rivers and canals carrying urban litter into the seas. We speak to the teams and volunteers leading the fight against Europe's plastic problem.

03/10/2023

How is Europe faring in the fight against plastic pollution?

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Ocean

How is Europe faring in the fight against plastic pollution?

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Ocean talks with Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries about single-use plastics, changing individual behaviours, and the importance of businesses being on board.

03/10/2023

Bathing sites in the EU: How clean is the water?

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the road to green

How clean is the water you swam in this summer?

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

As global temperatures continue to rise, it's more important than ever that we have blue spaces to cool off. But are we looking after our seas, lakes and rivers as we should?

27/09/2023

Jersey islanders are considering collective legal action over ‘forever chemicals’ pollution.

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Green News

Could this European island be the first to sue over forever chemicals?

Toxic chemicals leaked into their drinking water supplies more than 30 years ago. Now residents want compensation.

04/08/2023

EU taking a stand against pharmaceutical residues in wastewater

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Smart Health

Harmful residues from medicines leaking into our water systems

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

In Uppsala, Sweden, an innovative pilot project to rid water of pollutants is making waves.

29/06/2023

Groundbreaking trial seeks to clean our waters of medical residue

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Smart Health

The science behind waste water management

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Among nutrients, phosphorous, organic material and other micropollutants, the wastewaters in Uppsala, Sweden, contain microscopic but resilient pharmaceutical residues. What are the most cost-effective ways to clean these residues and prevent them from further harming our environment?

29/06/2023

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Green News

French company accused of releasing 'forever chemicals' near Lyon

Local residents blame French chemical giant Arkema for contaminating the environment around its plant near Lyon.

28/06/2023

Ostreopsis spotted underwater forming a bloom.

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Climate

Toxic algae: 900 people infected in France's Basque coast since 2021

Since 2021, a toxic variant of an algae named 'ostreopsis' has become increasingly prevalent in the Atlantic Ocean.

23/06/2023

José Miguel Quesada, a retired farm labourer from Costa Rica, has tongue cancer. He worked for 40 years with chemicals including chlorothalonil.

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Green News

‘Hypocrisy’: EU exporting a ‘carcinogenic’ pesticide it banned in 2020

This dangerous fungicide was banned in the EU three years ago. So why is it still being sent to developing countries?

22/06/2023

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Thousands 'hug' the ocean on Brazil beach for World Ocean Day

Thousands of people made a human chain on Brazil's Sao Conrado beach in Rio de Janeiro to "hug" the Atlantic Ocean on World Ocean Day.

09/06/2023

People hold placards as they form a human chain to clean the polluted waters of river Yamuna laden with foam, on the eve of world environment day in New Delhi on June 4, 2023.

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Watch: Hundreds join human chain to save Yamuna river

The Yamuna is one of India's holiest but also most polluted rivers, with mounts of white foam resembling snow.

05/06/2023

Rubbish collected in a barrier by a hydroelectric dam on the Drina river, Bosnia & Herzegovina

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Nature

‘It is ugly and sad’: How Bosnia’s beautiful Drina river became a dump

20 years since the breakup of Yugoslavia, a failure to establish good waste disposal practices has left Bosnia’s Drina river full of rubbish.

04/06/2023

Mid shot of the oil leak from a pipe in Lago Agrio, Ecuador

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Oil spill in Ecuador's Amazon region a result of 'sabotage'

The spill was captured in a video by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon, 10km from Lago Agrio, the capital of Sucumbios in northeast Ecuador.

11/05/2023

The EU wants to roll out higher standards for wastewater treatment plants to improve wastewater quality.

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Europe News

EU wastewater directive makes way through Parliament but at what cost?

The new law will mean greater investments in new technologies, as well as industries that contaminate wastewater having to pay-to-pollute.

25/04/2023

People enjoy the sun at Paris Plage event along the Seine River in Paris, Sunday, July 10, 2022.

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France

Swim the Seine: Paris plans river cleanup ahead of 2024 Olympics

Officials are hoping to reduce pollution levels in the Seine to make it safe to swim in ahead of an Olympic river race in 2024. However high levels of e.coli, sewage and industrial dumping pose huge challenges.

07/04/2023

Contamination of water

NGO cleans up contaminated Greek seas

More about this topic

Oxford coach blasts Thames pollution ahead of Boat Race with Cambridge

Spanish citizens feel ‘abandoned’ after 10 months without clean water

Toxic landslide threatens environmental disaster in Denmark

Millions of plastic pellets from Spanish spill could be eaten by fish

EU Policy. Belgium urged to advance extension of water pollutant watch list

Cleaning Europe's rivers: Meet the teams turning the plastic tide

How is Europe faring in the fight against plastic pollution?

How clean is the water you swam in this summer?

Could this European island be the first to sue over forever chemicals?

Harmful residues from medicines leaking into our water systems

The science behind waste water management

French company accused of releasing 'forever chemicals' near Lyon

Toxic algae: 900 people infected in France's Basque coast since 2021

‘Hypocrisy’: EU exporting a ‘carcinogenic’ pesticide it banned in 2020

Thousands 'hug' the ocean on Brazil beach for World Ocean Day

Watch: Hundreds join human chain to save Yamuna river

‘It is ugly and sad’: How Bosnia’s beautiful Drina river became a dump

Oil spill in Ecuador's Amazon region a result of 'sabotage'

EU wastewater directive makes way through Parliament but at what cost?

Swim the Seine: Paris plans river cleanup ahead of 2024 Olympics