14 DAY TRIAL // Thanks to a relatively large number of TV shows introducing the general public to the idea of a do-it-yourself home makeover, UK's rivers and other similar water sources are now experiencing an increase in their pollution levels.
The specialists who looked into this issue explain the problem as follows: whenever a UK citizen who lacks proper training in this area decides to upgrade or repair the plumbing in his/her home, odds are that he/she will end up fitting the pipes anything but properly.
Needless to say, things are likely to turn out a heck lot uglier if one decides to build his/her plumbing starting from scratch.
Because of the amateur plumber's lack of skills, whatever wastewater is supposed to flow through the pipes will leak into the surrounding environment, and from that moment on, it is only a matter of time until it hits the country's rivers and negatively impact on local fish species.
In fact, a report published a couple of years ago by the country's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stated that, should things continue to develop in that manner, about 50% of the properties in the UK would be the proud owners of faulty pipework as early as the year 2015. Daily Mail quotes a spokesperson for Thames Water (i.e. the company presently in charge of serving roughly 14 million people living in London and in the Thames Valley), who made a case of how, “People put in a new washing machine and plug it into what looks like the waste pipe but it goes to the surface water drain and it enters a local stream.”
“Water from appliances and sewage needs to go to sewage treatment plants,” Thames Water's spokesperson wished to emphasize.
According to the same source, it is quite likely that the recession that recently hit this country is the one to be held accountable for this sudden interest in amateur plumbing.
Thus, due to the lack of money, the number of people buying new homes in the UK diminished to a considerable extent.
As the spokesperson for Thames Water puts it, “Less housing is being sold because of the recession so many people are staying in their houses and improving them.”