Can you explain what that white, grey stuff is? so that is a film of bacteria. so, they re feeding off the organic matter, the faeces that s coming out of that sewage treatment plant. and it smothers the plant life as well. but there s loads of other chemicals coming out there. it will be our shampoos, our shower gels, our washing up liquids. it will be the pharmaceuticals that we take, that don t get fully broken down in us. and the other thing that s obvious, just a little way further upstream, there s a lot of life in the river, there s a lot of plant life. you can see a lot of greenery on the riverbed. but then downstream of this sewage treatment plant, it s just devoid of any any plant life. sewage coming out of another southern waterworks last october. the company insists most of the release was rainwater. last year, they were fined a record £90 million for what the judge called a shocking and wholesale disregard for the environment. southern water says: .