KS3/GCSE Geography: River Wharfe and wastewater systems in the UK

Paul Whitehouse visits The River Wharfe in Ilkley, West Yorkshire to see how it is affected by pollution from many sources.

The river begins at the confluence of Green Field Beck and Oughtershaw Beck in Langstrothdale. The Wharfe flows into the River Ouse after a journey of about 81 miles (130km) and forms the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire for much of its length. On its journey it passes through a variety of small villages, and larger settlements such as Kettlewell, Grassington, Addingham, Ilkley, Otley, Wetherby and Tadcaster. Like many rivers in the UK today, it is affected by pollution from many sources, one of which is human sewage.

Human activity generates wastewater every day. Domestic wastewater comes from our kitchens, bathrooms, toilets and sinks. Industry also produces a lot of wastewater. This wastewater contains sewage, chemicals and nutrients that are harmful to animals and plants, so it needs to be treated before it is returned to the environment.

Our wastewater travels down pipes to sewers, then to treatment plants where it is cleaned and filtered for drinking water or returned to our rivers as treated effluent. However, when sewers come under stress from heavy rainfall, water companies are allowed to relieve pressure by releasing wastewater and rainwater directly into rivers through Combined Sewer Overflow pipes, commonly known as CSOs. This is a direct cause of pollution affecting UK rivers.

This video is part of UK rivers case studies, a series of clips taken from Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers – available on BBC iPlayer.

Please note that in this clip a contributor is seen diving into a polluted river to look for evidence of sewage discharge. As Paul Whitehouse says in the video, this activity could put your wellbeing at risk and students should be reminded not to try this at home.

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Teacher Notes

Before watching the film:

  • Ask students what they know about river pollution. Can they name different kinds of pollution that might be found in rivers and identify where it has come from? Ask students if they think human sewage is a big problem in UK rivers and why.
  • You might also ask students what happens to our wastewater from domestic sources and find out what they know about sewage treatment plants.
  • The film contains some technical vocabulary so you might want to ensure students have a familiarity with the following words and terms, perhaps by creating a glossary.
    • Combined Sewage Overflow pipes (CSO)
    • Effluent
    • Environment Agency
    • Sewage
    • Sewer
    • Storm drain
    • Wastewater
    • Water Company

During the film:

  • You may wish to stop at relevant points during this short film to pose questions and check understanding or wait until the end. Useful questions might include:
    • What happens to the sewer system when we get heavy rain?
    • What are the other factors that increase stress on the wastewater treatment system? (Increased incidence of extreme rainfall due to climate change, growing size of settlements).
    • What can we do in our own lives to limit wastewater debris? (An example might be to dispose of items such as wet wipes by disposing of them properly, rather than flushing them into the drains).

Following on from the film:

  • Discuss how students feel after seeing the film and ask them what percentage of rivers in England they think may be affected. Research river pollution from sewage using news sources and government reports in an effort to establish some facts about the scale of the problem.
  • An Ordnance Survey report in 2023 lists the following:
    Figures from the Environment Agency (EA), one of the UK's water regulators, show there were more than 770,000 raw sewage discharges into the ocean and rivers around the UK over the course of 2020 and 2021 – the equivalent of almost 6 million hours.
    • Use the interactive map from the Rivers Trust to investigate your own local river.
  • Students could draw a diagram explaining the cycle of water treatment using appropriate terminology and identifying weak points in the system.
  • Ask students to explain why rivers, and the wildlife they support matter, giving examples, and identifying problems caused by discharging untreated effluent back into rivers. This work could be developed into a case study of river pollution, identifying causes, impacts and suggesting possible strategies for improvement.
  • Plan for fieldwork to locate and investigate local CSOs and consider safe ways to assess local water quality.
  • Thinking globally, students could go on to investigate the role of GIS in identifying sewage spills in the UK and beyond.

Curriculum Notes

All these short clips build on students’ understanding of human and environmental interactions and provide opportunities to practice geographical skills such as enquiry, mapping and fieldwork.

At KS3, students can learn more about how human and physical processes interact to influence, and change landscapes, environments and the climate.

At KS4, the film supports understanding about fluvial environments, environmental management and fieldwork investigation.

This clip could be used to support the delivery of geography to KS3 and KS4 students.

Specifically, this topic appears in OCR, Edexcel, AQA KS4/GCSE in England, WJEC Progression Step 4/5 in Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA S4/5 in Scotland.

The film might be used for example, to contribute to case studies about human interactions on fluvial environments (CCEA), or about environmental challenges (WJEC).

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Further clips from Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers

A look at the background to the privatisation of ten regional water authorities in 1989.

Water industry privatisation

Paul visits Lake Windermere to hear how tourists may be contributing to pollution levels.

Lake Windermere eutrophication

Paul visits the River Tamar in Devon to hear about a project that aims to let nature restore ecosystems.

Beavers and rewilding in the UK

Paul visits the River Clyde in Glasgow to hear about pharmaceutical pollution and its consequences.

Pharmaceutical pollution in the River Clyde

Paul visits the River Ribble in Lancashire to look at biodiversity monitoring and a project that is putting meanders back into the river.

River monitoring and 're-wiggling' on the River Ribble

Paul learns about how microplastic pollution affects the River Tame in Greater Manchester.

River Tame microplastic pollution

Paul visits Hampshire to look at a very rare habitat – England contains 85% of all chalk streams in the world.

River Test and UK chalk streams

Paul visits the construction site of a 'super sewer' in London.

River Thames Tideway project

Paul looks at how agricultural pollution is affecting the River Wye.

Intensive chicken farming and the River Wye
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