Big wig corporations at fault too, all these items can and should be biodegradable and affordable, plus I've also found out that alot that's put in bins doesn't always go to landfill either, it also ends up downstream 😢
Stephen, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for all the work you are doing. I really hope your videos reach people that can actually make some sort of an impact
As an avid wild swimmer the pollution of our waterways is an issue close to my heart, I can’t thank you enough for these detailed and informative videos! I live near a chalk stream in the south of England, a very delicate and rare ecosystem found in only a few places in the world. Despite that we’ve had tonnes of sewage dumped straight into the river, resulting in algal blooms that have deoxygenated the water and silt that has smothered the gravel beds, until the trout numbers plummet and the mega rich estate owners start being impacted on a financial level I find it hard to see any motivation for the local water company to change it’s ways.
I ran past as you were filming this and thought 'I wonder what fun hijinks stephen's getting up to' Turns out the hijinks were not fun at all 🤢. I despair at the state of this place, but this work is so important, in order to make change people need to be faced with the problem. Good on you for digging it up!
I'm a fisherman from the area. Aside from the summer Mackerel run the inner lough is effectively devoid of the species it once held due to this pollution and other factors. On BBC Rewind I found a report about an oil spill on the shores of Carrickfergus in the 80's, who knows what else has happened in the past and has been forgotten. The last few storms have displaced allot of the rock structure around Loughshore unfortunately and some ignorant people are lifting rocks by the hundreds along Hazelbank and stacking them not realizing they are further removing the vital structure that fish and crabs use to hide. It's not all bad news, anecdotally fish activity has increased nearer the mouth of the lough, particularly my Wrasse and Pollock catches have been quite high these past few years. I've also witnessed very large numbers of Dolphins. At one point there must have been 30 of them breaching just a few hundred yards from Blackhead just weeks ago.
The catch might be bigger out there away from Belfast but that's only kicking the problem down the road . How far will the sewage keep travelling ? Meanwhile Tight Lines.!!!
@@daithicarney3266blue mussells are suffering a mass extinction mate, itll be raised about belfast lough on tuesday night on spotlight but its all over, i was on nolan in april about strangford lough and said about mussells vanishing, you can see how unsuitable the cso and wwtw are if you follow link on my community page
Another superbly structured and presented story, informative and dramatic without being unnecessarily sensationalised. Mate you have a natural talent for this type of investigation and presentation. Great video again 👏🙏
Brilliant work. Guys like Stephen are the future. Not slipping into the vortex of complacency that's more prevalent here than people will admit, nor dumbing down for narcissistic media nonsense. Stephen has easily all the skills to be on mainstream TV making docus.
Yup the politics and organisation side of it was just too complicated for me to have time to cover in this. Also I would have needed another week of research and I wanted to get this out before the BBC documentary. I’m hoping it will be a good companion piece
Eloquent and brilliant communication as always Stephen and I gotta add.. mainstream TV loves the puns so you're all good there. Keep up the good work !
I remember walking the beach in Portrush and suddenly realising that I was walking through thousands of pieces of sweetcorn. The smell was horrendous, especially when I started coming across raw sewage 🤢🤮 I couldn't get off that beach quick enough! Thanks for making this problem better known!! Cheers, Dave.
Hey Stephen, love your videos. Just wana say I appreciate the effort you put into these documentary style videos, it shows and people are glad your making them and highlighting these issues in a digestible way
Matey, you need a full bunny suit if you're going to do this again, not just gloves! Total respect for doing the stinky leg-work to get the message out there. Is there an easy answer? Doubt it, but a good and cheap start is for ppl to stop flushing unflushables
The easy answer is huge investment. But actually realising that answer is very difficult. I did actually buy a protective suit for this. But didn’t want to look like I was over exaggerating the risk. Gloves, hand sanitizer and spraying my boots after I think/hope was enough. At any rate it’s over a week later and I’m not vomiting
I would be super leary of this, as well. I probably would've gone in with some of those livestock gynecology gloves (the ones that go all the way up your arm), some extra good hand gloves on top, the bottom PPE pants they have, and some boot covers, at least. Haha. I'd be paranoid aboit dragging anything home. Then again, that stuff is all right next to where people run freely, so who knows.
I doubt there's much to do about wipes flushable or not unless they're legislated against in some way. Tragedy of the commons isn't it, and in this case the 'commons' is the abused sewage system because people just flush any old crap down a hole that's meant for soft, degradable material. Plus people over here would gag at the idea of a poopy-wipe bin in the bathroom.
I’ve only been up here for 4 months from Kerry and I’ve noticed that the cleanliness on the beaches on the east coast of the north of the island are really dirty and I’ve seen effluent coming out of pipes in port rush, filth straight into the ocean.
That was a great video. Nice work. Yes. Part of the answer is for us not to flush things down the toilet that we shouldn’t. But raw waste still gets pumped into the lough and that can’t be fixed by the average person. However, bottom line, it will come out of our pocket.
And if the sewage system was up to standard, all that stuff would be screened out. Still not an excuse obviously. But yeah ultimately WE will pay for either through new taxes or at a loss of quality of education or health. It’s that simple.
Thank you for your good work! It doesn't matter if people are swimming in money or living in a low income part of the world, if we are killing the nature, we are killing the fundamental source of our existense. It is so important that you and other dedicated pople tell us about these absurd situations, as we see in Belfast Lough. You are absolutely not the only ones wondering how we got this far out of balance, and the unpleasant answer is unfortunately "ignorance"! We care so much of our own comfort and wellbeing, that we remove focus totally from the nature around us. To say money is the main problem is an understatement. It is the knowledge and the care for nature, that is missing in many places of the world. Not only in Belfast.
Go on Stephen people need to know what is happening in the country, and that's what I call out of sight out of mind, thank you for all your work and funny videos you put out for us to love and hate. Take care of yourself and yours Alan. 🙊🙉🙈😱👍
Thanks Alan. I’m really surprised this doesn’t t seem to have gotten more attention. There have been lots of groups protesting about sewage, but I haven’t seen anyone else on that beach
Fantastic video Stephen, it's amazing to see people dig into issues that often get overlooked in Belfast, especially when so much of our media is still tribal politics. I think it would take a monumental economic and environmental crisis for any politician to take action on this unfortunately :(
I cannot believe I saw the intro to this, went away to fetch lunch and then came back to continue watching it as I ate. But now I'm not eating, it's great!
Well done for getting this story out! This is tragic! Thank you for asking people to stop putting things down the drains that doesnt belong there too. I dont feel we will be taken seriously unless we too change our behaviour too. The general public is partially responsible for this. However, the water companies should never have allowed it to get this awful. We do pay for water services in England, however, our sewage system isnt much better, if at all! The laws need changing to enforce the water companies to spend the money they do make on replacing and updating sewage systems. London's sewage system gas barely been updated since Queen Victoria was on the throne. It is just madness to me that these companies are not doing more to prevent these inevitable disasters. 🙄😔
Stephen, thank you for making this video. Sadly I'm not surprised at your findings. The situation is grim to put it mildly. If this doesn't convince politicians and the public that we need water charges to start to invest in updating and increasing the capacity of our waste water treatment I don't know what will. I hope your video is shared far and wide. Thank you again.
@@StephenJReid NO NO we have had JCB's down to help remove "some wipes and the like" but that's only made a tiny bit of difference , this is something i care deeply about as a fisherman and local activist when it comes to litter and pollution in our waterways , now with a fast growing population we need to address this kind of negligence around the whole island and not for political gain as is as often the case "allot said and little done". if ever your down this way we could make a good vid together. take care m8 , thanks again "awareness is a good start"
Great video Stephen, problem with brining water charges in is that the money raised will get diverted for other needs. The British government needs to invest money in Northern Ireland full stop. Basic sanitation should be a right and it’s disgusting that it’s been allowed to be like this.
Thanks so much for covering this, you’re a hero!! Hopefully enough people turn their eyes on this and pressure our politicians to do their job and start putting the work in to undo years of negligence!
Another great video. Worked at Belfast dry dock back in mid 2000’s and seen signs of the pollution then. These pipes that flow straight in to the rivers and loughs are everywhere. It’ll take another disaster for the government to react. If at all.
@ What you're doing is important and the way you do it is fascinating. Your storytelling and videography is next to none! I don't even live in NI, but I know more about your country and it's history because of your videos!
Another great video Stephen, very informative. Hopefully the powers that be will see this and take notice, as on the whole, from what you have shown us of it, Northern Ireland is a beautiful country and deserves to be kept that way.
Powerful stuff Stephen and thanks for bring more attention to these topics. People need to know just how bad things are and then play a part in making things better. On the topic of not enough money, many things here are in a state of disrepair, collapse or just failing to deliver good outcomes. From education, healthcare, infrastructure, economy, justice, there is something fundamentally wrong at the heart of it all and it’s not all down to money. What is it? Years of poor governance, bad policy, lobbying, neglect, self interested civil service or possibly corruption, maybe it’s all that combined? Whatever is wrong it needs to be addressed and the Belfast Lough situation is just one example of how our kids will inherit a worsening place rather than the improving that we owe them.
Thanks, man! You're doing good work N.I. will always be underfunded. Simply put, the Irish will always be lower priority for british governments. Although, given the state of british waterways over the last ten years, water charges and a higher priority to westminister don't seem to make any difference either
Was just recommending people watch your Lough Neigh video, so good to see another local issue being addressed. We're all going to be swimming up 💩 creek soon. If it takes water charges to help fix it, we might just have to suck it up honestly, although I dont trust government spending to be done effectively. Maybe some type of voluntary programme where you can do a few hours of clear up work as credit towards potential water charges?
Totally unbelievable that sewage is deliberately entering the waterways as easily as what's shown here by our water company's yet Farmers are getting the blame for water pollution elsewhere and yet they do not deliberately let slurry run into water ways. Brilliant documentary style video highlighting another water problem, thank you Stephen.
Oh dear God, this is totally disgusting, I would ask "how is this allowed to happen?" But I know that it happens because people don't know about it, the info is buried somewhere, and our media would rather package Love Island or the Jungle gossip as actual news. I think most folk would like to see on news outlets cover the issues that actually affect us all but that would require real journalism and most news outlets dont seem to employ those people anymore, real journalists are dying breed. Well done to you and the people who brought this to your attention for sharing this with us, knowledge is power and that's the real reason, those in positions of power don't want us to gain knowledge of their inadequacies and wrong doings - those people need to be held to account for their failures
Good morning. Just watched that eating my breakfast 🫤🥴😵😪 I live in the north of England, water charges or not, no one seems to care. Our water is privatised companies that just fleece the natural resource for profit. The whole industry needs heavy, strict and adhering legislation.
In my country (the Netherlands) the price of drinking water will be €1,25 per m3 (1000 liter) in 2025, including tax. A 2 person household uses about 95 m3, so it costs about €119 per year for 2 persons. For that price you get healthy drinking water. Apart from this we pay taxes for sewerage and wastewater treatment. The price is different for a one person or more person household and is also partly based on the estimated price of your house (rented or owned). The taxes are roughly €750 per year in my household (for 4 persons). We have good water quality, a fairly well maintained sewer system and a reasonable (yet improvable) water management of the ecosystem. I have not much to complain about, seeing this rubbish on a Northern Irish beach though
Belfast Lough doesn’t have a bright future, especially if the gas caverns at Larne and Islandmagee are given the go ahead and they bore into the salt layers as this will mean the pumping of super saline out into the mouth of the Lough having an impact on wildlife.
A very important video, glad to have people like you bringing awareness to this. Known about this since I was a kid, simply because of the awful smell.
Very informative video Stephen, it's very unfortunate that it had to be made. I agree wholeheartedly the people representing Northern Ireland should react and formulate a plan to fix this before it's too late. As you have said will it take another crisis like Lough Neagh for people to listen, but then is it too late, or are we relying on mother nature to pull us out of yet another hole ?????
Wet wipes and all kinds of paper with plastic (or plastic imitating paper) should have been banned in the eu long ago. I often see wet wipes in the woods because people think they will disintegrate in a moment like normal paper. Much worse for nature than banned straws and similar nonsense. People do not know that this material is non-recyclable. Yet for most applications it can easily be replaced with other material (albeit usually more expensive).
YES to a ban on that! I bought loads of these when my children were small. But never expected it to be made of plastics 😒. I don't want these (and straws, diapers and cotton swaps) to be manufactured. It should indeed be made out of easy degradable materials. Also the perfume and soap, package material etcetera
I don't understand why non biodegradable toilet or baby wipes wipes are still allowed, either. There are cellulose based ones on the market, so it's not like people who need them would have to go without. Same with kitchen sponges. The vast majority are made from some kind of foamed plastic. Just why? Well, price aside. But really, how much does a slightly more expensive kitchen sponge add to your monthly budget? It annoys me to no end, that I have to order mine online, because drugstores in Germany for some reason don't sell block shaped, cellulose based sponges. Only floppy 'wipe surfaces with this' ones. They do exist, but no physical shop actually stocks them 🫤
@ 100% non biodegradable ones should be banned. I think they are allowed because they are not supposed to be flushed. But sometimes human behaviour needs to be taken into account
Even if all that stuff is banned, it still matters what's flushed down the toilet. The biodegradable / compostable wipes need a municipal or industrial composter. I get the sense that people misread these labels / gradings and think the product just breaks down, no bother, wherever they leave them.
I wouldn’t go anywhere near that area of Belfast lough due to the contamination from sewage plus you’re close to the old Belfast dump. I remember taking waste oil, chemicals and sewage to the dump. They would have a large hole dug so you could off load into it. They would then just fill it back in with the soil and debris around them leaving the waste to go into the ground and leach out wherever it found a way. I knew of private sewage pumping stations that were constantly overflowing raw sewage into the rivers. The net bags that were fitted to catch the solid items were never changed so once they blocked up the weight behind them would cause them to rip open and spill everything into the river. I worked in the drainage industry all my life, I’m now in my sixties and the attitude has always been it’s underground and they don’t see it so don’t worry about it but it’s all coming back to bite them now!
It’s a tiny % from domestic rates that go to water. I think around £50 was what I was told but couldn’t find an online source for that. Not remotely close to the £450 average the rest of UK pays.
Negligent NI Water Agency Executives and some Local Political Representstivrs for that location, should be in jail for Gross Neglience and Environmental Terrorism.
NI water is critically underfunded since it was created in 2007, NI water has been begging for more money but gets barely enough to maintain its current portfolio, having to standardise what councils and the environment agency had done before. its who we vote for that decides and unfortunately putting more money into health or justice will be more popular than spending it on infrastructure no one sees.
Josh literally said what I was about to say. Might wanna check your facts before making such scurrilous remarks. NI Water are literally running on empty, and it’s easy to say it’s their fault, when the truth is they are working with outdated machinery and engineering, and their staff haven’t had a pay rise in years. If you want to do some good, get your local MLA to get it addressed at both Stormont and the House Of Commons.
I would like to say thank you for bringing things like this to our attention. I have shared this. I have had a passion for caring about nature, wildlife and the environment since I was a child in the 90s and I hate seeing what we are doing to out environment and nature and it makes me despair sometimes. While I have seen the warning signs put up about pollution and shellfish, this beach isn't something I knew about. I am not surprised though, except when you said there was so much of this rubbish and sewage that its now structurally integral to the area. That is a horrible that it was let get that far. Not only should we stop flushing things down the toilet we shouldn't be, but all non natural materials like plastic in products such as wet wipes, straws and other one use products, need to be banned. While we don't have water charges in Northern Ireland, I do think something needs to change in order for NI water and others to have enough funding to fix these massive environmental issues and I know going to Westminster to ask for more money shouldn't just the answer as it isn't. Although there are many people who probably couldn't afford water charges here, for households earning above a certain threshold, they should be paying them if it would help contribute to improving our water and sewage infrastructures.
@@StephenJReidproduction quality top class, this wouldn’t look out of place on BBC lol. Sent this over to Craig at policy in Alliance. This does raise an argument to paying for our water as long as the funds are ring-fenced for the water infrastructure.
@ I’m personally ok with water charges. But I think they should 100% be means tested or metered for fairness and some people should be exempt. With lower average wages here than in UK as a whole there needs to be a way to balance that.
Well done Stephen for bringing this to the public attention. As individuals we are responsible for what we flush down our toilets and need to be change our behaviour. But more importantly our elected representatives are ultimately responsible for our community infrastructures. Where is this in the minister in charge’s list of priorities?
Currently sitting in the car park of Jordanstown Loughshore Park .The seafront is bunged the playground is bunged , I'm very tempted to walk around showing people your excitement informative video. I dread to think what the publics reaction would be 🤮 .
Britain's sewage problem has existed for more than five decades and the British have done literally nothing. Only Scotland has legislation that requires wastewater to be discharged only after treatment. And Brexit did make the problem worse. Hope you Video will change something!
Convenience. Out of sight, out of mind... In old times all our rubbish was directly thrown into rivers. In large parts of the world this still happens.
I'm actually flabbergasted snd horrified at this. Openly allowed to happen too! If anything is needed to raise more awareness on my end let me know please and thanks for the great video
Regardless of the current issues the history might be interesting to dig into. The more the wider public know about it the better though as that will make it a campaigning issue
Its not “openly allowed to happen” partly caused by the fact that some works cannot cope anymore, combined with storm water and tanks are at capacity and cant be treated fast enough.
its disgusting but i can see where this is going, NI water will say they are underfunded and cant cope with the problem so they must introduce water meters/charges to sort it out.
Money has to come from somewhere. The question is where and we are the only place in UK that doesn’t pay water charges. That said, hopefully there’s a way to avoid that as people are already otherwise financially disadvantaged here.
The volume of waste is one thing, but it doesn't help that (at least here in the US) there are products that are STILL advertised as 'Flush-able' that clearly are NOT. For years we've seen report after report about overworked sewage treatment facilities, workers, as well as increased costs and damage to systems because of this disgusting nonsense.
So called "flushable" wet wipes are awful and should not be flushed! As you can see here they do not break down. They clog and ruin pipes. And why tf would you flush sanitary pads
The start of solving the issue is to stop flushing non biodegradable items. Ban wet wipes. They make toilet paper that degrades. Educate women about not flushing sanitary products. Have a trash can next to each toilet. The answers start in the bathroom with each person. I would rather use a trash can than pay a water tax. Start at the root of the problem. And, of course, upgrade the treatment plants. Edit- Let me clarify my post. When I say wet wipes I am referring to the ones adults use instead of toilet paper. Not baby wipes. Hopefully mothers are throwing them away with the diaper into a trash can. Anyone wanting to buy wet wipes needs to pay a hefty tax that goes to pay for the treatment plant upgrades. Make them too expensive to buy. Anyone who will pay the tax can help pay for the upgrade. Then ban eventually.
Yeah fast degrading wet wipe alternatives would make a huge difference. There are biodegradable ones, but they don’t currently break down fast enough to prevent blockages. They really need to fragment within minutes of entering the sewage network. Stopping the wet wipes etc alone is only part of the problem. The nutrients and bacteria from the sewage is the bigger issue as that could kill the entire lough
@@StephenJReidI know this is a complicated issue. It needs to be a national issue to push the top politicians in helping solving the problems. Your video needs to go viral.
More people need to learn to not flush anything other than bodily waste and toilet paper. I hope you got well disinfected after that beach. You definitely need to wear better safety gear if you go near these things.
Live near here and noticed this little beach and a few others like it around Giants Park from looking at google earth. Was thinking of going on a little adventure with the kids to check them out some day but I think I'll give it a miss after all.
Collection screens would cost a relatively modest amount of money. Why isn't the council installing screens to prevent the infiltration of non biodegradable solids into rainwater/sewage overflow. The attitude of "do nothing until we have billions of pounds" is a total cop out.
There’s collection screens at every waste water treatment works in the country. NI Water spend millions every year on their ‘pee poo paper’ campaign, even bringing it to primary schools around the North. The issue is laziness on individuals behalf. There’s a certain type of person who just couldn’t care less. NI Water filter out all the condoms, sanitary towels, wet wipes and other stuff that’s dumped down toilets which costs tax payers millions upon millions each year, all because certain people are fuckin animals.
Collection screens only stop certain kinds of waste. They have no effect on the bacterial and nutrient pollution which is the bigger danger. But 100% those wet wipes should be screened out long before they get near the sea.
Just horrifying what we are doing to the environment. This is not just a Northern Ireland problem. The water companies dump sewage into the sea on the mainland, even on dry days, it's more profitable. If this continues, we may need to invest in a full-body biohazard suit to visit the beach. Thanks for highlighting this Stephen.
Brilliant reporting. This problem is found all around Britain too. Putting all sanitary products, all wipes and contraceptives into the black wheelie bin should be the norm. Sanitary products don't stink out the bathroom in a closed bin that is emptied weekly. Bidet spray attachments for the toilet can be bought for £35 to £150. The fancy ones being connected to the hot water pipe too and having temperature control. No extra space or bathroom furnishings are needed. They soon pay for themselves in not needing toilet paper. This would help to ease the waste volume and prevent the fatbergs. Its a cultural shift in common habits.
Complex issues. Charging for water appears a useful option. Let alone folk stopping flushing inappropriate stuff down their toilets! Society is a team game that a lot of folk want to sit on the sidelines of. (Poor grammar there).
You should be on main stream tv investigating this kind of topic Steve. Brilliant documentary again.
I don’t think they’d let my bad puns in though
Mr Messner in the house ^^
Great one Stephen totally disgusting people should know this stuff.
Hope your landscaping company does a good job or another new video lol😮😂
Big wig corporations at fault too, all these items can and should be biodegradable and affordable, plus I've also found out that alot that's put in bins doesn't always go to landfill either, it also ends up downstream 😢
@@Hikingjoe383 “The Cowboys Ruining Northern Ireland’s Gardens” 😂
Stephen, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for all the work you are doing. I really hope your videos reach people that can actually make some sort of an impact
You are very welcome 🙂
People just will not learn that a toilet is not a bin.
The brands that still label their wipes as "flushable" when they aren't certainly don't help public perception
As an avid wild swimmer the pollution of our waterways is an issue close to my heart, I can’t thank you enough for these detailed and informative videos!
I live near a chalk stream in the south of England, a very delicate and rare ecosystem found in only a few places in the world. Despite that we’ve had tonnes of sewage dumped straight into the river, resulting in algal blooms that have deoxygenated the water and silt that has smothered the gravel beds, until the trout numbers plummet and the mega rich estate owners start being impacted on a financial level I find it hard to see any motivation for the local water company to change it’s ways.
Well done Stephen for getting this out to the public
Thanks Kevin. Loads of activists over the years talking about it too
I second that👍👍👍
I ran past as you were filming this and thought 'I wonder what fun hijinks stephen's getting up to'
Turns out the hijinks were not fun at all 🤢. I despair at the state of this place, but this work is so important, in order to make change people need to be faced with the problem. Good on you for digging it up!
When I was on the beach? 😂 I had thought about wearing a full body protective suit but didn’t want people to stop and watch
I'm a fisherman from the area. Aside from the summer Mackerel run the inner lough is effectively devoid of the species it once held due to this pollution and other factors. On BBC Rewind I found a report about an oil spill on the shores of Carrickfergus in the 80's, who knows what else has happened in the past and has been forgotten. The last few storms have displaced allot of the rock structure around Loughshore unfortunately and some ignorant people are lifting rocks by the hundreds along Hazelbank and stacking them not realizing they are further removing the vital structure that fish and crabs use to hide.
It's not all bad news, anecdotally fish activity has increased nearer the mouth of the lough, particularly my Wrasse and Pollock catches have been quite high these past few years. I've also witnessed very large numbers of Dolphins. At one point there must have been 30 of them breaching just a few hundred yards from Blackhead just weeks ago.
I'm surprised it doesn't throw some big plaice or flounder up on those mussel beds
The catch might be bigger out there away from Belfast but that's only kicking the problem down the road . How far will the sewage keep travelling ? Meanwhile Tight Lines.!!!
All the cockles would be helping with the filtering aswell as the mussels. Maybe a few razor clam bed out deeper also helping ,Nature's way
@@daithicarney3266blue mussells are suffering a mass extinction mate, itll be raised about belfast lough on tuesday night on spotlight but its all over, i was on nolan in april about strangford lough and said about mussells vanishing, you can see how unsuitable the cso and wwtw are if you follow link on my community page
Another superbly structured and presented story, informative and dramatic without being unnecessarily sensationalised. Mate you have a natural talent for this type of investigation and presentation. Great video again 👏🙏
Brilliant work. Guys like Stephen are the future. Not slipping into the vortex of complacency that's more prevalent here than people will admit, nor dumbing down for narcissistic media nonsense. Stephen has easily all the skills to be on mainstream TV making docus.
naw, I started doing this to get away from employment! but thanks 😁
Morning. I've shared it on my page. Shame on those in power not doing their job.
Yup the politics and organisation side of it was just too complicated for me to have time to cover in this. Also I would have needed another week of research and I wanted to get this out before the BBC documentary. I’m hoping it will be a good companion piece
@StephenJReid ah I can understand that. Hopefully it will get sorted as after all we maybe an Small Island but us irish have a great punch.
Its the citizens that live in NI. Not the politicians
Eloquent and brilliant communication as always Stephen and I gotta add.. mainstream TV loves the puns so you're all good there. Keep up the good work !
I remember walking the beach in Portrush and suddenly realising that I was walking through thousands of pieces of sweetcorn. The smell was horrendous, especially when I started coming across raw sewage 🤢🤮 I couldn't get off that beach quick enough! Thanks for making this problem better known!! Cheers, Dave.
woke
Thanks for sharing. Needs to be brought into the light. Well done Steven
Hey Stephen, love your videos. Just wana say I appreciate the effort you put into these documentary style videos, it shows and people are glad your making them and highlighting these issues in a digestible way
Glad you like them!
Ladies. Sanitary pads aren't supposed to be flushed. Nor are wet wipes.
Take responsibility
Why do you address this to ladies only? Wet wipes are used by both men and women. Also for babies.
It's the new arrivals !
@@e.k.4508lol wise up.
@@e.k.4508why so touchy ?
Matey, you need a full bunny suit if you're going to do this again, not just gloves! Total respect for doing the stinky leg-work to get the message out there. Is there an easy answer? Doubt it, but a good and cheap start is for ppl to stop flushing unflushables
The easy answer is huge investment. But actually realising that answer is very difficult. I did actually buy a protective suit for this. But didn’t want to look like I was over exaggerating the risk. Gloves, hand sanitizer and spraying my boots after I think/hope was enough. At any rate it’s over a week later and I’m not vomiting
I would be super leary of this, as well. I probably would've gone in with some of those livestock gynecology gloves (the ones that go all the way up your arm), some extra good hand gloves on top, the bottom PPE pants they have, and some boot covers, at least. Haha. I'd be paranoid aboit dragging anything home. Then again, that stuff is all right next to where people run freely, so who knows.
I doubt there's much to do about wipes flushable or not unless they're legislated against in some way. Tragedy of the commons isn't it, and in this case the 'commons' is the abused sewage system because people just flush any old crap down a hole that's meant for soft, degradable material.
Plus people over here would gag at the idea of a poopy-wipe bin in the bathroom.
Try working with it everyday… three p’s folks… please… for fuck sakes.
I’ve only been up here for 4 months from Kerry and I’ve noticed that the cleanliness on the beaches on the east coast of the north of the island are really dirty and I’ve seen effluent coming out of pipes in port rush, filth straight into the ocean.
That was a great video. Nice work. Yes. Part of the answer is for us not to flush things down the toilet that we shouldn’t. But raw waste still gets pumped into the lough and that can’t be fixed by the average person. However, bottom line, it will come out of our pocket.
And if the sewage system was up to standard, all that stuff would be screened out. Still not an excuse obviously.
But yeah ultimately WE will pay for either through new taxes or at a loss of quality of education or health. It’s that simple.
Many thanks for investigating this beach!
Hopefully the politicians and the public will wake up early enough for the challenge to prevent a collapse.
thats the only time it will change is when it hits everyone in the pocket
As a user of Belfast Lough for watersports, thanks for highlighting this. That is just grim😢
Thank you for your good work! It doesn't matter if people are swimming in money or living in a low income part of the world, if we are killing the nature, we are killing the fundamental source of our existense. It is so important that you and other dedicated pople tell us about these absurd situations, as we see in Belfast Lough. You are absolutely not the only ones wondering how we got this far out of balance, and the unpleasant answer is unfortunately "ignorance"! We care so much of our own comfort and wellbeing, that we remove focus totally from the nature around us. To say money is the main problem is an understatement. It is the knowledge and the care for nature, that is missing in many places of the world. Not only in Belfast.
Go on Stephen people need to know what is happening in the country, and that's what I call out of sight out of mind, thank you for all your work and funny videos you put out for us to love and hate. Take care of yourself and yours Alan. 🙊🙉🙈😱👍
Thanks Alan. I’m really surprised this doesn’t t seem to have gotten more attention. There have been lots of groups protesting about sewage, but I haven’t seen anyone else on that beach
Fantastic video Stephen, it's amazing to see people dig into issues that often get overlooked in Belfast, especially when so much of our media is still tribal politics. I think it would take a monumental economic and environmental crisis for any politician to take action on this unfortunately :(
This will turn into the "Biggest show in the country". These documentaries are brilliant IMO you have found your groove... 😉. Well done. Keep at them!
🙂
I cannot believe I saw the intro to this, went away to fetch lunch and then came back to continue watching it as I ate.
But now I'm not eating, it's great!
Your clue was in the title though.
@@buddleiabee Oh yes, it's entirely my own fault
Well done for getting this story out! This is tragic!
Thank you for asking people to stop putting things down the drains that doesnt belong there too. I dont feel we will be taken seriously unless we too change our behaviour too. The general public is partially responsible for this. However, the water companies should never have allowed it to get this awful.
We do pay for water services in England, however, our sewage system isnt much better, if at all! The laws need changing to enforce the water companies to spend the money they do make on replacing and updating sewage systems. London's sewage system gas barely been updated since Queen Victoria was on the throne. It is just madness to me that these companies are not doing more to prevent these inevitable disasters. 🙄😔
Stephen, thank you for making this video. Sadly I'm not surprised at your findings. The situation is grim to put it mildly. If this doesn't convince politicians and the public that we need water charges to start to invest in updating and increasing the capacity of our waste water treatment I don't know what will. I hope your video is shared far and wide. Thank you again.
thanks Steven , inspiring me to keep shedding light on EXACTLY the same problem in Galway here ,
Sadly billions are being spent on Migrants.
Interesting! A few comments saying this is only happening here because NI is in UK.
@@StephenJReid NO NO we have had JCB's down to help remove "some wipes and the like" but that's only made a tiny bit of difference , this is something i care deeply about as a fisherman and local activist when it comes to litter and pollution in our waterways , now with a fast growing population we need to address this kind of negligence around the whole island and not for political gain as is as often the case "allot said and little done". if ever your down this way we could make a good vid together. take care m8 , thanks again "awareness is a good start"
Great video Stephen, problem with brining water charges in is that the money raised will get diverted for other needs. The British government needs to invest money in Northern Ireland full stop. Basic sanitation should be a right and it’s disgusting that it’s been allowed to be like this.
I am 70 years old and I can say I have NEVER flushed a wet wipe in a toilet. People need to be educated along with other fixes you mentioned.
Thanks so much for covering this, you’re a hero!! Hopefully enough people turn their eyes on this and pressure our politicians to do their job and start putting the work in to undo years of negligence!
Another great video. Worked at Belfast dry dock back in mid 2000’s and seen signs of the pollution then. These pipes that flow straight in to the rivers and loughs are everywhere. It’ll take another disaster for the government to react. If at all.
An eye opener for sure....thx for doing this
It's currently 4am EST, perfect video to watch before bed! Thanks Stephen!
Edit: Okay not "perfect," video is grim
Sorry for the nightmares. I don’t normally publish this early, it’s 9am here. But I just wanted to get this one out there
@ What you're doing is important and the way you do it is fascinating. Your storytelling and videography is next to none! I don't even live in NI, but I know more about your country and it's history because of your videos!
@ thank you for watching 🙂
Please keep at it, maybe include interviews with some other activists or better even council workers and politicians
Another great video Stephen, very informative.
Hopefully the powers that be will see this and take notice, as on the whole, from what you have shown us of it, Northern Ireland is a beautiful country and deserves to be kept that way.
Powerful stuff Stephen and thanks for bring more attention to these topics. People need to know just how bad things are and then play a part in making things better.
On the topic of not enough money, many things here are in a state of disrepair, collapse or just failing to deliver good outcomes. From education, healthcare, infrastructure, economy, justice, there is something fundamentally wrong at the heart of it all and it’s not all down to money. What is it? Years of poor governance, bad policy, lobbying, neglect, self interested civil service or possibly corruption, maybe it’s all that combined?
Whatever is wrong it needs to be addressed and the Belfast Lough situation is just one example of how our kids will inherit a worsening place rather than the improving that we owe them.
there's a huge complex mess of reasons. The troubles paid a big role too. No one cares about talking about sewage when bombs are going off.
Thanks, man! You're doing good work
N.I. will always be underfunded. Simply put, the Irish will always be lower priority for british governments. Although, given the state of british waterways over the last ten years, water charges and a higher priority to westminister don't seem to make any difference either
Was just recommending people watch your Lough Neigh video, so good to see another local issue being addressed.
We're all going to be swimming up 💩 creek soon. If it takes water charges to help fix it, we might just have to suck it up honestly, although I dont trust government spending to be done effectively.
Maybe some type of voluntary programme where you can do a few hours of clear up work as credit towards potential water charges?
Interesting idea!
Totally unbelievable that sewage is deliberately entering the waterways as easily as what's shown here by our water company's yet Farmers are getting the blame for water pollution elsewhere and yet they do not deliberately let slurry run into water ways. Brilliant documentary style video highlighting another water problem, thank you Stephen.
hmmmm
Oh dear God, this is totally disgusting, I would ask "how is this allowed to happen?" But I know that it happens because people don't know about it, the info is buried somewhere, and our media would rather package Love Island or the Jungle gossip as actual news. I think most folk would like to see on news outlets cover the issues that actually affect us all but that would require real journalism and most news outlets dont seem to employ those people anymore, real journalists are dying breed. Well done to you and the people who brought this to your attention for sharing this with us, knowledge is power and that's the real reason, those in positions of power don't want us to gain knowledge of their inadequacies and wrong doings - those people need to be held to account for their failures
I really admire your work
Good morning.
Just watched that eating my breakfast 🫤🥴😵😪
I live in the north of England, water charges or not, no one seems to care.
Our water is privatised companies that just fleece the natural resource for profit.
The whole industry needs heavy, strict and adhering legislation.
In my country (the Netherlands) the price of drinking water will be €1,25 per m3 (1000 liter) in 2025, including tax. A 2 person household uses about 95 m3, so it costs about €119 per year for 2 persons. For that price you get healthy drinking water.
Apart from this we pay taxes for sewerage and wastewater treatment. The price is different for a one person or more person household and is also partly based on the estimated price of your house (rented or owned). The taxes are roughly €750 per year in my household (for 4 persons).
We have good water quality, a fairly well maintained sewer system and a reasonable (yet improvable) water management of the ecosystem.
I have not much to complain about, seeing this rubbish on a Northern Irish beach though
Never eating another mussel in my life! Great informative article/video once again 👌
They are perfectly safe if they grow in reasonable quality water. But I'm not a fan of them in general anyway
Absolutely superb video, Stephen. What a shambles!
And disinfect your cameras! Just can't get over how authorities allow this stuff to happen.
they were sprayed down afterwards
@ the camera, or the local authorities?!
Another fantastic video!
Belfast Lough doesn’t have a bright future, especially if the gas caverns at Larne and Islandmagee are given the go ahead and they bore into the salt layers as this will mean the pumping of super saline out into the mouth of the Lough having an impact on wildlife.
A very important video, glad to have people like you bringing awareness to this. Known about this since I was a kid, simply because of the awful smell.
Jeeze, and I thought Thames Water was bad!!!!
I thought I'd watch this while having lunch before I'd have to go to work today. Thank's for killing my appetite Stephen...great video though!
Very informative video Stephen, it's very unfortunate that it had to be made. I agree wholeheartedly the people representing Northern Ireland should react and formulate a plan to fix this before it's too late. As you have said will it take another crisis like Lough Neagh for people to listen, but then is it too late, or are we relying on mother nature to pull us out of yet another hole ?????
Yep, that smell hits you for a few seconds through the air vents every time you drive past that beach
Belfast is a maze to me, being from portadown, one wrong turn and im on the missing persons list lol
It was like this in the 1970`s , by now we were promised pristine rivers and seas .
And the population has increased somewhat since the 70’s
Great work again Stephen. Keep it up.
You know its bad when 50% of the video is titled "forbidden smootie"
I was quite pleased with that title
Great video. It disgusting the state of Northern Ireland beaches .
Wet wipes and all kinds of paper with plastic (or plastic imitating paper) should have been banned in the eu long ago. I often see wet wipes in the woods because people think they will disintegrate in a moment like normal paper.
Much worse for nature than banned straws and similar nonsense. People do not know that this material is non-recyclable. Yet for most applications it can easily be replaced with other material (albeit usually more expensive).
Yeah they are a menace. I see them when I’m hiking all the time too.
YES to a ban on that! I bought loads of these when my children were small. But never expected it to be made of plastics 😒. I don't want these (and straws, diapers and cotton swaps) to be manufactured. It should indeed be made out of easy degradable materials. Also the perfume and soap, package material etcetera
I don't understand why non biodegradable toilet or baby wipes wipes are still allowed, either. There are cellulose based ones on the market, so it's not like people who need them would have to go without.
Same with kitchen sponges. The vast majority are made from some kind of foamed plastic. Just why? Well, price aside. But really, how much does a slightly more expensive kitchen sponge add to your monthly budget?
It annoys me to no end, that I have to order mine online, because drugstores in Germany for some reason don't sell block shaped, cellulose based sponges. Only floppy 'wipe surfaces with this' ones. They do exist, but no physical shop actually stocks them 🫤
@ 100% non biodegradable ones should be banned. I think they are allowed because they are not supposed to be flushed. But sometimes human behaviour needs to be taken into account
Even if all that stuff is banned, it still matters what's flushed down the toilet. The biodegradable / compostable wipes need a municipal or industrial composter. I get the sense that people misread these labels / gradings and think the product just breaks down, no bother, wherever they leave them.
Hats off to you Stephen! Keep up the good work
Very informative documentary Stephen - we all benefit from videos which bring light to concerns such as these.
Fantastic eye opening video thanks.Castle triathalon scratched off the to do list.
I wouldn’t go anywhere near that area of Belfast lough due to the contamination from sewage plus you’re close to the old Belfast dump. I remember taking waste oil, chemicals and sewage to the dump. They would have a large hole dug so you could off load into it. They would then just fill it back in with the soil and debris around them leaving the waste to go into the ground and leach out wherever it found a way. I knew of private sewage pumping stations that were constantly overflowing raw sewage into the rivers. The net bags that were fitted to catch the solid items were never changed so once they blocked up the weight behind them would cause them to rip open and spill everything into the river. I worked in the drainage industry all my life, I’m now in my sixties and the attitude has always been it’s underground and they don’t see it so don’t worry about it but it’s all coming back to bite them now!
We do pay water rates in Northern Ireland. It's incorporated into the domestic rates. Not since 1999 have water rates been itemised separately.
It’s a tiny % from domestic rates that go to water. I think around £50 was what I was told but couldn’t find an online source for that. Not remotely close to the £450 average the rest of UK pays.
@@StephenJReid Who told you ?
@@crazystarwarsguy1006 www.nidirect.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/how-your-rates-contribute-to-public-spending-2017-2018.pdf
I've heard around 75% of Belfast sewerage doesn't even make it to the WWTWs. It's just all seeping out
Just in time for the BBC Sporlight expose this Tuesday!
I was racing them to publish first. Dunno if they knew that though 🤣
Good man its awful. I went kayaking, in the sea after heavy rain, last month and caught a nasty infection.
Negligent NI Water Agency Executives and some Local Political Representstivrs for that location, should be in jail for Gross Neglience and Environmental Terrorism.
Shit in rivers and the sea is commonplace over most of the U.K. for the same reasons it's a N.I. problem.
@@Jaffa0961 NI Water? How’s it their fault
NI water is critically underfunded since it was created in 2007, NI water has been begging for more money but gets barely enough to maintain its current portfolio, having to standardise what councils and the environment agency had done before. its who we vote for that decides and unfortunately putting more money into health or justice will be more popular than spending it on infrastructure no one sees.
Josh literally said what I was about to say. Might wanna check your facts before making such scurrilous remarks. NI Water are literally running on empty, and it’s easy to say it’s their fault, when the truth is they are working with outdated machinery and engineering, and their staff haven’t had a pay rise in years. If you want to do some good, get your local MLA to get it addressed at both Stormont and the House Of Commons.
I know people who work at NI Water and they are as frustrated as the rest of us. Chronically underfunded for decades.
Thank you for highlighting the complete failure of our government to protect the environment in this country. What you are doing is important!
Brilliant Stephen, thank you for creating content like this for our little country. Your videos should be shown in schools.
Quality video, horrendous what's going on.
I would like to say thank you for bringing things like this to our attention. I have shared this. I have had a passion for caring about nature, wildlife and the environment since I was a child in the 90s and I hate seeing what we are doing to out environment and nature and it makes me despair sometimes. While I have seen the warning signs put up about pollution and shellfish, this beach isn't something I knew about. I am not surprised though, except when you said there was so much of this rubbish and sewage that its now structurally integral to the area. That is a horrible that it was let get that far.
Not only should we stop flushing things down the toilet we shouldn't be, but all non natural materials like plastic in products such as wet wipes, straws and other one use products, need to be banned.
While we don't have water charges in Northern Ireland, I do think something needs to change in order for NI water and others to have enough funding to fix these massive environmental issues and I know going to Westminster to ask for more money shouldn't just the answer as it isn't. Although there are many people who probably couldn't afford water charges here, for households earning above a certain threshold, they should be paying them if it would help contribute to improving our water and sewage infrastructures.
I'd be happy to pay water charges but totally agree that many shouldn't have to.
Thank you for doing this!!!!!!
No problem. Can’t say I enjoyed it
@@StephenJReidproduction quality top class, this wouldn’t look out of place on BBC lol. Sent this over to Craig at policy in Alliance. This does raise an argument to paying for our water as long as the funds are ring-fenced for the water infrastructure.
@ I’m personally ok with water charges. But I think they should 100% be means tested or metered for fairness and some people should be exempt. With lower average wages here than in UK as a whole there needs to be a way to balance that.
Great vid, something we can actually do something about with ease
Well the tricky part is getting the money
Well done Stephen for bringing this to the public attention. As individuals we are responsible for what we flush down our toilets and need to be change our behaviour. But more importantly our elected representatives are ultimately responsible for our community infrastructures. Where is this in the minister in charge’s list of priorities?
Unreal that's horrendous
Excellent video Stephen. So informative.
Currently sitting in the car park of Jordanstown Loughshore Park .The seafront is bunged the playground is bunged , I'm very tempted to walk around showing people your excitement informative video. I dread to think what the publics reaction would be 🤮 .
Amazing work again Stephen 👏
Does this all mean that this is repeated all around the coast of Ireland
Yes. And the rivers. You can find more information in the NI Water Overflow Map. Stephen provided the link in the description
in many places yes, at least in Northern Ireland. Always the worst near densely populated areas
Britain's sewage problem has existed for more than five decades and the British have done literally nothing. Only Scotland has legislation that requires wastewater to be discharged only after treatment. And Brexit did make the problem worse. Hope you Video will change something!
Why are people flushing these items down the toilet
Convenience. Out of sight, out of mind...
In old times all our rubbish was directly thrown into rivers. In large parts of the world this still happens.
Well done Stephen you entertain even when you educate, no blue flags for that beach in the foreseeable 🧐
Brexit freed us from tyranny of blue flag beaches
I'm actually flabbergasted snd horrified at this. Openly allowed to happen too! If anything is needed to raise more awareness on my end let me know please and thanks for the great video
Regardless of the current issues the history might be interesting to dig into. The more the wider public know about it the better though as that will make it a campaigning issue
Its not “openly allowed to happen” partly caused by the fact that some works cannot cope anymore, combined with storm water and tanks are at capacity and cant be treated fast enough.
Thank you mate x
its disgusting but i can see where this is going, NI water will say they are underfunded and cant cope with the problem so they must introduce water meters/charges to sort it out.
Money has to come from somewhere. The question is where and we are the only place in UK that doesn’t pay water charges.
That said, hopefully there’s a way to avoid that as people are already otherwise financially disadvantaged here.
The volume of waste is one thing, but it doesn't help that (at least here in the US) there are products that are STILL advertised as 'Flush-able' that clearly are NOT. For years we've seen report after report about overworked sewage treatment facilities, workers, as well as increased costs and damage to systems because of this disgusting nonsense.
So called "flushable" wet wipes are awful and should not be flushed! As you can see here they do not break down. They clog and ruin pipes. And why tf would you flush sanitary pads
Very informative Stephen, credit to you covering this disaster. A big problem.
thanks Alan
The start of solving the issue is to stop flushing non biodegradable items. Ban wet wipes. They make toilet paper that degrades. Educate women about not flushing sanitary products. Have a trash can next to each toilet. The answers start in the bathroom with each person. I would rather use a trash can than pay a water tax. Start at the root of the problem. And, of course, upgrade the treatment plants.
Edit- Let me clarify my post. When I say wet wipes I am referring to the ones adults use instead of toilet paper. Not baby wipes. Hopefully mothers are throwing them away with the diaper into a trash can. Anyone wanting to buy wet wipes needs to pay a hefty tax that goes to pay for the treatment plant upgrades. Make them too expensive to buy. Anyone who will pay the tax can help pay for the upgrade. Then ban eventually.
Yeah fast degrading wet wipe alternatives would make a huge difference. There are biodegradable ones, but they don’t currently break down fast enough to prevent blockages. They really need to fragment within minutes of entering the sewage network.
Stopping the wet wipes etc alone is only part of the problem. The nutrients and bacteria from the sewage is the bigger issue as that could kill the entire lough
@@StephenJReidI know this is a complicated issue. It needs to be a national issue to push the top politicians in helping solving the problems. Your video needs to go viral.
More people need to learn to not flush anything other than bodily waste and toilet paper. I hope you got well disinfected after that beach. You definitely need to wear better safety gear if you go near these things.
sprayed down. a week later and I haven't pooped myself so think I got away with it
Live near here and noticed this little beach and a few others like it around Giants Park from looking at google earth. Was thinking of going on a little adventure with the kids to check them out some day but I think I'll give it a miss after all.
Collection screens would cost a relatively modest amount of money. Why isn't the council installing screens to prevent the infiltration of non biodegradable solids into rainwater/sewage overflow. The attitude of "do nothing until we have billions of pounds" is a total cop out.
There’s collection screens at every waste water treatment works in the country. NI Water spend millions every year on their ‘pee poo paper’ campaign, even bringing it to primary schools around the North. The issue is laziness on individuals behalf. There’s a certain type of person who just couldn’t care less. NI Water filter out all the condoms, sanitary towels, wet wipes and other stuff that’s dumped down toilets which costs tax payers millions upon millions each year, all because certain people are fuckin animals.
Collection screens only stop certain kinds of waste. They have no effect on the bacterial and nutrient pollution which is the bigger danger.
But 100% those wet wipes should be screened out long before they get near the sea.
Excellent video, and I hope the government wakes up.
Very nice sir , hopefully N.I sort it before its too late, 😢
Can’t see Northern Ireland ever working truly well, maybe in a few decades, but divided politics is still affecting so many parts of decisions here
Very good 👏
such a inspiration you are stephen i went to percys cave yesterday it was really foggy then i walked binnian
hope you had a great time!
Just horrifying what we are doing to the environment. This is not just a Northern Ireland problem. The water companies dump sewage into the sea on the mainland, even on dry days, it's more profitable. If this continues, we may need to invest in a full-body biohazard suit to visit the beach. Thanks for highlighting this Stephen.
Grate Britain! Where nothing is safe!
Brilliant reporting. This problem is found all around Britain too.
Putting all sanitary products, all wipes and contraceptives into the black wheelie bin should be the norm. Sanitary products don't stink out the bathroom in a closed bin that is emptied weekly.
Bidet spray attachments for the toilet can be bought for £35 to £150. The fancy ones being connected to the hot water pipe too and having temperature control. No extra space or bathroom furnishings are needed. They soon pay for themselves in not needing toilet paper.
This would help to ease the waste volume and prevent the fatbergs. Its a cultural shift in common habits.
would help a lot
Complex issues. Charging for water appears a useful option. Let alone folk stopping flushing inappropriate stuff down their toilets! Society is a team game that a lot of folk want to sit on the sidelines of. (Poor grammar there).