Professor John Robertson OBA
Using the Grok AI software, owned by Elon Musk, no friend of the SNP, I asked:
Are Scotland’s rivers cleaner than England’s?
The answer was quite clear:
Scotland’s rivers are generally cleaner than England’s based on available data. According to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), 57.2% of Scotland’s river stretches were classified as being in good or better overall condition in 2022. In contrast, only 15% of England’s river stretches meet good ecological health standards, and none are in good chemical health due to persistent toxic pollutants.
Key factors contributing to this difference include:
- Public Ownership: Scottish Water, a publicly owned entity, invests around 35% more in infrastructure compared to privatized English water companies, leading to better maintenance and fewer sewage spills
- Monitoring and Regulation: While Scotland monitors only 8% of its sewage overflows compared to nearly 100% in England, this selective monitoring focuses on high-risk areas, potentially masking the full extent of pollution but suggesting less widespread issues.
- Population and Industry: Scotland’s lower population density and later industrial development result in less pressure on waterways from urban and agricultural runoff.
- Pollution Sources: In England, 54% of rivers fail chemical and ecological tests due to sewage and agricultural runoff, while Scotland’s rivers face similar issues but to a lesser extent, with 86% [thus only 14% failing] of surface waters rated good or better. https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=1947273178104914192
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
As I posted before not according to Chris ‘Curran’ Murray Scotland is just as bad.
LikeLike
Where did you post Chris?
LikeLike
I’m sick to death of these fifth columnists. They should be sanctioned for promoting anti-Scottish propaganda and disinformation. Then face court action under (yet to be written) Scottish anti terrorism legislation.
maybe THAT would get us in the papers. John Lawson
LikeLiked by 1 person
I learned about Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) through the DeepSeek app, while ‘discussing’ the £6 billion investment by Scottish Water on infrastructure projects in Scotland between 2021 and 2027.
One of their projects was the Shieldhall Tunnel (it can hold floodwater to equivalent of 36 Olympic size swimming pools which halves the amount of floodwater entering the Clyde) and led on to it providing me with information about SuDS in Glasgow. There is one in Auckland Wynd, Dalmarnock.
The link below explains the situation with SuDS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It appears Scotland is the only country in the UK which has made SuDS obligatory for all new developments.
https://www.susdrain.org/delivering-suds/using-suds/delivery/planning.html
“Sustainable drainage and the planning process in Scotland
Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) sets out the Scottish Government’s policy on land use planning and also provides policy on surface water management and SuDS. Similarly to the rest of the UK, Scotland local government produces Strategic Development Plans (SDPs) and Local Development Plans (LDPs) to promote good practice, facilitate good decision making and provide requirements for SuDS.
A number of Planning Advice Notes (PANs) have also been produced to assist with the delivery of SuDS in developments and there a specific responsibilities for Scottish Water and SEPA.
SEPA’s Regulatory Method (RM-08) covers the management of surface water from developments and SuDS are a legal requirement for all development except single dwellings that drain to the water environment (except coastal waters).
The Water Environment and Water Services (WEWS) (Scotland) Act 2003 made Scottish Water responsible for SuDS that deal with the run-off from roofs and any paved ground surface within the property boundary. SuDS need to be designed to Scottish Water specification as set out in their manual “Sewers for Scotland 2nd Edition”. In addition, the law makes the use of SuDS obligatory when dealing with surface water drainage from all new developments.”
LikeLiked by 3 people
Auckland Wynd development
https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/factsheet/2016/08/designing-streets-toolkit/documents/case-study-street-detail-glasgow-commonwealth-games-athletes-village-pdf/case-study-street-detail-glasgow-commonwealth-games-athletes-village-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/Case%2Bstudy%2Bstreet%2Bdetail%2Bglasgow%2Bcommonwealth%2Bgames%2Bathletes%2Bvillage.pdf
LikeLike
As observed elsewhere on a quote from a BBC report on England ” River pollution increased by 60% over the last year alone ” – ‘No it hasn’t, the government and regulator have increased the number of pollution incidents they are prepared to publicly admit to by 60%…’ – Watch the numbers increase in coming years…
When Ministers get to play god with the regulators, as happened in England after the Tories took power, no good was ever going to come of it – You only need glance at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_for_Environment,_Food_and_Rural_Affairs the array of ‘talented’ Tory Ministers in charge to see why it all went so wrong – FGS, even the Lettuce had a go…
It will take decades and squillions in investment to address the most glaring of the damage done in England, but even Labour are not prepared to admit ‘privatisation’ has been a disaster…
For sure there is still more to be done in Scotland, but at least we are on track, whilst England has gone off the rails…
LikeLiked by 3 people