Environmental investigative journalism nonprofit

All Our Work

Independent journalism on water, public health and the environment

WATERSHED partners with national and international media to run high impact investigations covering all issues affecting the freshwater and marine environment.

Cocktail of almost 500 different chemicals found in waterways

Cocktail of almost 500 different chemicals found in waterways

Watershed analysed Environment Agency data for ITV and the Guardian to reveal that a cocktail of almost 500 different chemicals, many toxic to aquatic life, are polluting waterways.

CHEMICALS FRESHWATER POLLUTION
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• ITV • Guardian
Landfills across England could be leaking harmful toxic ooze, warn experts

Landfills across England could be leaking harmful toxic ooze, warn experts

Thousands of old landfills littered across the country potentially leaking toxic ooze and vapours are more likely to be found in deprived areas, our analysis of the sites from our new WATERSHED POLLUTION MAP reveals.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE LAND USE POLLUTION
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• THE GUARDIAN • THE GUARDIAN • THE WATERSHED POLLUTION MAP
PM’s constituency in top 10 of water pollution ranking, investigation finds

PM’s constituency in top 10 of water pollution ranking, investigation finds

Rishi Sunak is running for a constituency that has ranked in the top 10 for potential water pollution, reports The Independent, using Watershed's Pollution Map.

OTHER STORIES POLLUTION
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• The Independent • Yahoo News • Evening Standard • Jersey Evening Post • Yorkshire Bylines • Times Series • MSN • Strathspey Herald • Shropshire Star
THE WATERSHED POLLUTION MAP

THE WATERSHED POLLUTION MAP

Wondering what’s in your water? Now you can find out. Watershed has created a first-of-its-kind Pollution Map revealing a huge range of potential pollution sources that can harm rivers, lakes, groundwater, coasts and more.

CHEMICALS CLIMATE CRISIS FRESHWATER LAND USE OCEANS POLLUTION WATER RESOURCES WILDLIFE
LINKS:
• The Watershed Pollution Map
Rapidly rising levels of TFA ‘forever chemical’ alarm experts

Rapidly rising levels of TFA ‘forever chemical’ alarm experts

Rapidly rising levels of TFA, a class of “forever chemical” thought to damage fertility and child development, are being found in drinking water, blood and rain, causing alarm among experts.

CHEMICALS FRESHWATER POLLUTION
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• The Guardian
‘Dirty secret’: insiders say UK water firms knowingly break sewage laws

‘Dirty secret’: insiders say UK water firms knowingly break sewage laws

Whistleblowers say UK water companies are knowingly failing to treat legally required amounts of sewage, and that some treatment works are manipulating wastewater systems to divert raw sewage away from the works and into rivers and seas.

CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY FRESHWATER OTHER STORIES POLLUTION
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• The Guardian
PFAS investigation now a scientific paper

PFAS investigation now a scientific paper

The work of the Forever Pollution Project, of which Watershed is a part, has been published in the scientific journal, Environmental Science and Technology. It sets out the methodology used to map PFAS contamination across Europe.

CHEMICALS OTHER STORIES POLLUTION SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• Environmental Science and Technology
Watershed publishes three new podcast episodes

Watershed publishes three new podcast episodes

Watershed has published three new podcast episodes: 'Why hundreds of toxic road runoff outfalls are polluting England's rivers', 'Gaza's water crisis', and 'Toxic: Britian's forever polluted rivers and seas'.

PODCAST
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• Apple podcasts • Spotify
Cancer-causing PCB chemicals still being produced despite 40-year-old ban

Cancer-causing PCB chemicals still being produced despite 40-year-old ban

Industry could be producing more cancer-causing PCB chemicals today than at any other point in history, despite their production having been banned more than 40 years ago.

CHEMICALS OCEANS POLLUTION WILDLIFE
PUBLISHED IN:
LINKS:
• THE GUARDIAN

Help Fund Us

You can help us do more of this work by donating to WATERSHED. We use Gift Aid to help maximise whatever amount you’re able to donate.

Support Our Work

Our work has been published in: