The public are rightly shocked when they discover that untreated or partially treated sewage is regularly dumped into rivers and streams in England. We have heard that the rainwater washing into storm sewers can contain microplastics, industrial chemicals and hydrocarbons. It will then mix with human waste from homes and businesses containing harmful bacteria. In some cases, the only ‘treatment’ that such discharges will have received will have been to pass through a mesh grill.