';Diffuse' pollution comes from the thousands of surface water drains serving towns and cities, field drains in the countryside, and runoff from industrial yards, farmland and forests. The financial implications of this for the water industry are daunting. Treating pesticide contamination alone is estimated to cost £500 million per annum - similarly high costs are predicted for other water use sectors, not to mention the difficult-to-value effects such pollution has on the environment.

In Scotland, surface water drainage is already the fourth most important cause of river pollution in Scotland, with 20% of poor or seriously polluted rivers affected. Acidification is the main cause of pollution in 11.7% of polluted streams and 25% of polluted lochs in Scotland as a whole. In total, over 2000km of Scottish watercourses are polluted by diffuse pollution from agriculture, forestry, minewater seepage, urban drainage and acid rain.

Brian D'Arcy of SEPA, one of the authors of the Report, says the report is the first comprehensive effort to begin to quantify the importance of diffuse pollution in the UK, adding that "it demonstrates that there is a need for new approaches and resources to solve the remaining water pollution problems."

Fellow author Bob Ferrier, of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, points out that diffuse pollution is everyone's responsibility: "it's not only an issue of pollution from farmland or from industrial areas. How many of us have ever considered the consequences of pouring oils, detergents and old garden chemicals down the street drains outside our house?"

The Report "The Environmental and Economic Impacts of Diffuse Pollution in the UK" is being launched at a seminar being held at the Institute of Physics in London on 16 October. The Report is produced under the auspices of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and the International Water Association (IWA) with funding from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum For Environmental Research and the Environment Agency.

Further details about the seminar and the Report are available from Claire Smith at Terence Dalton Ltd on 01787 249292 email claire@lavenhamgroup.co.uk. The Report costs £40 to members of CIWEM or IWA, or £50 to non-members.

ENDS