Crap Towns / Reading / Pollution incidents
How often does Reading get polluted?
13 serious pollution incidents have been recorded in Reading or within 1 km of it since 2016, the joint 70th most of the 948 English towns that have had one. 2 were major, the worst kind. The most recent came in August 2025 and put an unidentified pollutant in the water. Diesel turned up in 2 of them.
| When | What | Where | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| October 2024 | Atmospheric pollutant or effect | In the air | Significant |
| April 2024 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| December 2023 | Suspended solids | On the land | Significant |
| March 2023 | Unidentified oil | In the water | Significant |
| September 2022 | Unidentified oil | In the water | Significant |
| March 2022 | Diesel | In the water | Significant |
| June 2021 | Oil or fuel | In the water | Major |
| March 2020 | Firefighting run-off and smoke | In the water and in the air | Significant |
| December 2019 | Diesel | In the water | Significant |
| August 2019 | Detergent | In the water | Significant |
| February 2019 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| March 2017 | Lubricating oils | In the water | Major |
| Town | Distance | Serious incidents since 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | – | 13 |
| Caversham | 4.1 km | 4 |
| Wokingham | 9.6 km | 2 |
| Woodley | 4.4 km | 2 |
| Henley-on-Thames | 10.8 km | 1 |
| Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross | 5.1 km | 1 |
| Twyford | 8.3 km | 1 |