Record sewage spills into England’s rivers and seas

Sewage spills into England’s rivers and seas by water companies more than doubled last year. According to the Environment Agency there were 3. 6 million hours of spills compared to 1. 75 million hours in 2022.

Water UK, the industry body for sewerage companies, said the record levels were due to heavy rain. These spills are not illegal but environmentalists say they should only happen in exceptional weather. On average last year there were 1,271 spills a day across England, compared to 825 in 2022. Contained within the spills is human waste, wet wipes and sanitary products, which can pose a serious risk to local wildlife, swimmers and others who use UK waterways.

Sewage pollution in the UK severely impacts waterways. Not a single river in England rated as healthy according to the latest Rivers Trust Rivers report. The rain can help to dilute the sewage but academics warn there is still a risk to the local environment and anyone swimming in these bodies of water. Last year, on behalf of all English sewerage companies, Water UK announced they would invest £10bn to upgrade sewage infrastructure.

But these plans first have to be approved by the regulator Ofwat. Water UK called on the government to accelerate this decision and also other plans like banning wet wipes. The latest data, revealed by the Environment Agency on Wednesday, was taken from monitoring stations installed at combined sewer overflows or CSOs. Labour’s Steve Reed called on the government to introduce an immediate ban on bonuses for polluting water bosses.

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said the £57bn in payouts from the water industry over the last 30 years should have gone towards improving standards. The number of spills was expected to be higher because of the high rainfall in 2023. CSOs were developed as overflow valves to reduce the risk of sewage backing up in people’s homes during heavy rainfall when sewer pipes become overloaded. For the first time all 14,580 CSO were fitted with monitors.

Ofwat and the Environment Agency are both conducting separate investigations into England’s nine sewerage companies. But these two agencies are themselves under investigation by the independent Office for Environmental Protection. They are concerned they have interpreted the law incorrectly on sewage discharging - allowing spills whenever it rains. Residents have seen local footpaths flooded ten times in the last year.

Treatment works in Horley, Surrey, have struggled to cope with heavy rainfall. Thames Water has published plans to upgrade 250 of its sewage treatment works. The upgrade is expected to begin construction in 2025. The footpath next to the site will be closed while a new wall is built.

The new wall will help mitigate against flooding at the site. Get in touch with Have Your Say by emailing haveyoursay@bbc. co. uk or tweeting it to @BBCHaveYourSay.