United Utilities has said the survival of a seal found in the River Mersey over Christmas is partly due to millions of pounds it has spent on cleaning up the river over the past 20 years.
The seal was found 17 miles inland from the coast washed up in a farmer’s field after swimming up the river, which used to be one of the most polluted waters in Europe. The seal’s discovery in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, sparked a major operation by the emergency services. It is thought he ended up there after trying to catch fish along the River Mersey. The rescued animal was herded into a RSPCA trailer with brooms and fences.
The water company completed the Mersey Estuary By-Pass pipeline scheme in the 1980s, removing millions of gallons of untreated sewerage from entering the river. The 29km MEPAS super-tunnel collected 28 separate raw sewerage outfall pipes from Crosby to Garston and transported it to a new Liverpool Treatment works on Sandon Dock.
The clean-up was triggered by the former secretary of state for the environment, Michael Heseltine, who visited the area after the Toxteth riots. Commenting at the time, he said the river was … "an affront to the standards a civilised society should demand of its environment" and added:
"Untreated sewage, pollutants, noxious discharges all contribute to water conditions and environmental standards that are perhaps the single most deplorable feature of this critical part of England."
Since the clean-up, animals have been gradually returning to the Mersey. Salmon were discovered recently, and four species of owl have also been spotted around the Fiddlers Ferry area.
United Utilities started work recently on a new £200 million extension to Liverpool's Wastewater Treatment Works which will keep the Mersey clean for generations to come.
Now just over half-way through its construction, when complete, the new plant at Wellington Dock will serve around 600,000 Liverpudlians, taking away their sewage and treating it to the highest standards.
A United Utilities spokesman said:
“In the past, the seal would have died. The fact it survived is real evidence that the River Mersey is much cleaner. This has been a wonderful Christmas present to everyone who has been involved in the scheme.”
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