Sir: You highlight the unsightly mess on river banks caused by what is known in the water industry as Pods - plastic and other debris - that Nicholas Schoon more graphically describes ('Rivers of filth to flow unchecked', 20 December) as 'used contraceptives, sanitary towels and other plastic debris flushed down lavatories'.
While end-of-pipe treatment of storm sewage overflows is undoubtedly required, what about prevention? Perhaps we should all be thinking more carefully about what is flushed away down the lavatory, rather than the current out of mind and out of sight (but not for long) attitude.
TOM STEPHENSON
Director
School of Water Sciences
Cranfield University
Bedford
20 December
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