The effect of a combination of sewage spills, climate change, and pollution on Yorkshire's River Ouse has been simulated using artificial intelligence image generator, Adobe Firefly.

The impression, generated by Utility Bidder, features 'plastic waste filling the banks,' while 'harmful algae blooms' can be seen covering the water.

The imaginative depiction was one of a number of AI river images (along with, for example, those of the Severn and the Wye) that embellished Utility Bidder's water company review.

In the review, the company found that Yorkshire Water was responsible for the third most sewage spills of any water company in England and Wales in 2023, at 77,761 spills.

That compares to Dwr Cymru (Welsh Water), which came out on top with 117,830 spills, and United Utilities (which covers the North West, with a 'supply area stretching from Cumbria to Cheshire') in second with 97,537 spills.

The data for 2023 was taken from the Rivers Trust’s Catchment Based Approach Data Hub on sewer storm overflows in England and Wales: https://data.catchmentbasedapproach.org/datasets/theriverstrust::event-duration-monitoring-storm-overflows-2023-england-and-wales/about

The data for 2022, with which the 2023 data was compared, was taken from the same hub: https://data.catchmentbasedapproach.org/datasets/theriverstrust::event-duration-monitoring-storm-overflows-2022-england-and-wales/about

By comparing data year-on-year, Utility Bidder found that the number of recorded Yorkshire Water sewage spills increased by 23,488 from 2022 to 2023.

James Longley, managing director at Utility Bidder, commented: "Water companies serve wide-reaching areas in the UK, and multiple local authorities in the process.

"We wanted to highlight the issues faced all across the country, and only six local authorities saw no sewage spills in 2023; these are Brighton and Hove, Broxbourne, Cambridge, Hackney, Harlow, and Watford.

"Heading into the autumnal months, heavy downpours and prolonged periods of rain can be expected to overwhelm the UK’s drainage infrastructure.

"As a result, sewage spills will continue to be an unpleasant reality and there needs to be as much information shared with UK residents as possible to highlight the current crisis."

Utility Bidder's full findings, and its AI-generated river images, are available to view at https://www.utilitybidder.co.uk/blog/polluted-waters-report-2024/