An interactive map has been widely circulated on social media which shows where pollution is being emptied into rivers including in Salisbury. 

The map, produced by charity The Rivers Trust, was put together using data from the Environment Agency and shows where the sewerage network overflows into rivers during heavy rain.

The Rivers Trust advises people to avoid entering the water immediately downstream of these discharges and avoid the overflows - marked by brown circles - especially after it has been raining.

Sewage Map: Here are the sewerage network discharges in your area

The map below may take a few seconds to load, but you can search your exact location.

There are a shocking amount of examples in Salisbury area alone, for example in Endless Lane a drain overflowed for 17 hours in 2020. 

The size of the brown dots indicates the extent of the issues in one area.

A spokesperson for The Rivers Trust said: "At The Rivers Trust, we believe that people should be able to swim, paddle, catch and play without worrying about sewage pollution.

"That’s why we launched Together for Rivers: an ambitious campaign which hopes to see designated bathing waters introduced to well-used rivers in the UK.

"Until cleaner rivers become a reality, we will continue to fight for public access to data on sewage pollution.

"That’s why we created our Sewage Map, which gives details on the location and spill duration of CSOs across England and Wales."

There has been a change in the pipeline after the controversal sewage vote which Salisbury MP John Glen recieved backlash for. 

John Glen responded yesterday saying he voted against an 'outright' ban due to the  "environmentally catastrophic unintended real world consequences it would have".

Today, after the announced changes, he told the Journal: "I am not at all surprised by people’s strong feelings about the importance of clean water and a healthy environment because I share them.

John Glen suggests that an 'instant ban would simply not have worked', and would have caused overflows to go via the streets 'which is neither safe for the public nor helpful to the environment'. 

Instead he welcomes the new amendment saying: “Instead of sweeping statements, we need an achievable plan, and that is precisely what the Environment Bill provides.”

It will put a legal duty on the utility firms to “secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows”.

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