Games Monitor

"If the parents of the children that use the various boating facilities knew what their kids were swimming in I doubt very much if they would continue letting them train here."

From: Mark Cheeseman's comment above

David Akinsanya was first attracted to the River Lee because of its tranquillity and beauty. He's moored his boat there for the last three years.

But since then, things have changed as David explains: "Now the River Lee quite literally stinks! "The water has got murky, the air seems stale and I'm not the only one that's noticed the change."

David was convinced that something suspicious is causing the river to be in such a poor state so he decided to investigate. He sent a sample of the water to a microbiologist and met up with an ecologist from British Waterways.

The research revealed something rather disturbing. The problem with the river is raw human sewage. The investigation became even more disgusting when David looked at the bigger picture.

The sewage works at Deepham, three miles up river, releases treated effluent into the Lea when heavy rain pushes the tanks over capacity.

David is horrified by the findings: "Basically this waterway is becoming a communal lavatory and I'm living on it! "I'm worried not just for myself but for other people. "I see canoeists and swimmers on this river, and I'm sure there must be a health hazard."

Excerpts from: BBC Inside Out