Water companies are illegally dumping raw sewage into rivers and oceans at hundreds of locations across the UK, an investigation has revealed.
Water companies are allowed in some circumstances to discharge raw sewage via “combined sewer overflows” (CSOs).
The idea is that these overflow pipes act as a safety valve during periods of heavy rain, allowing excess effluent to be released untreated rather than flood the network and people’s homes.
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Water companies must have a permit to discharge sewage in this way, but an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches programme reveals that water companies are dumping sewage from unpermitted pipes.
Welsh Water has 184 sewage discharge pipes without permits and says they are all in use, Dispatches found, while Northumbrian Water has 61. Severn Trent water has 420 sewage discharge pipes that are not covered by permits, but it refused to say how many are in use.
In total, there are more than 870 discharge pipes scattered across the country that do not have permits and are potentially discharging sewage illegally, Dispatches found.
The findings will add to the growing public outcry over the scale of sewage pollution around the country. About 90 of Britain’s beaches were affected by water pollution this summer, according to spill data from water companies.
Earlier this month, more than 40 beaches and swimming spots in England and Wales were hit with pollution warnings after sewage was pumped into bathing spots.
“Water companies’ reliance on overflows is unacceptable and they must significantly reduce how much sewage they discharge as a priority,” the Government said in response to the findings on Dispatches.
The three water companies said they are all working with the Environment Agency to ensure the right permits are in place.
Dispatches also found that the practice of using overflows to dump sewage pollution is causing huge fluctuations in water quality at popular swimming spots.
Ryde beach on the Isle of Wight is rated as having ‘excellent’ water quality by the Environment Agency. But waters there recorded a spike in faecal pollution 40 times higher than normal on one day this summer after the local water company released untreated sewage for more than two and a half hours.
