Water, Sewage & Effluent September-October 2017 | Page 19

What the future holds There has been a significant surge in the knowledge base around wetlands, Fairall says. “Twenty years ago, we had about 30 people that were interested in restoring wetlands, in the impacts on wetlands, Water Sewage & Effluent September/October 2017 17 While raw sewage can be life-threatening when found in fresh water, the process can be reversed — albeit a time-consuming process. Fairall cites the River Thames in London, now a waterway that is home to all manner of small wildlife. According to the London Wildlife Trust, there are 125 types of fish in the Tidal Thames (from the estuary mouth to Teddington Lock). Fairall adds that salmon now also swim upstream to spawn. This is vastly different to the Thames circa 1965, when he visited London, Fairall says: “The River Thames Paul Fairall, principal consultant for Emifula and wetlands guru. Time is not on our side was a stream of sewage, as were the River Rhine and the Ruhr. Governments have since realised their terrible mistake and turned these water courses around,” he adds. But this did take 50-odd years to achieve, he points out. He describes how, back in the day, about 70 years ago, Singapore was known as one of