As it is, the food we export to China consumes around 41 trillion liters of water each year, or twice the discharge of the Colorado River, BCG says.

FORBES: How China Will Eat Your Lunch

The Environment Agency said that during periods of high tide, high river levels would be unable to discharge into the sea, which was likely to lead to localised flooding at Surfleet reservoir.

BBC: Cars stuck in floodwater

Last year 32m cubic metres of diluted sewage were dumped into the river, at a rate of roughly one discharge a week.

ECONOMIST: The capital's overflowing drains are due for a big upgrade

The video shows a small river with a yellow hue, allegedly polluted from the discharge of two companies nearby, one of them a suspected Apple supplier.

CNN: Apple rejects China pollution allegations