The water and wastewater companies in England have come under attack in an investigation by the Guardian newspaper which says that the firms dumped raw sewage into England's rivers 200,000 times in 2019.
According to the newspaper, the analysis has revealed that untreated human waste was released into streams and rivers for more than 1.5m hours last year.
The Guardian obtained the data via environmental information requests about releases of sewage from storm drains in rivers by nine companies across England which provide water and wastewater services - Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent, South West Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, United Utilities, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water.
The newspaper report says that 6,508 inland Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) released untreated sewage into rivers 204,134 times in 2019 and the spills discharged for 1.53m hours.
“Water companies were told by the government to install monitoring on the majority of their combined sewer overflows by March 2020. But by June, the Guardian data reveals 3,400 out of about 10,000 inland outflows owned by the nine water companies still had no monitoring installed,” the report says.
The article includes the following comment by a spokesperson for Water UK, the industry body which represents all the UK water companies:
“The water industry is committed to the very highest environmental standards … Although there is currently no simple and effective alternative to overflows, there are some innovative solutions being used, such as sustainable drainage systems, which are natural features that help keep rainwater out of the sewer. In new housing developments, these can help to take some of the pressure off the sewer network.”
Click here to read the article in full
The Guardian has also published responses from several of the companies concerned - click here to read.
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