Yesterday evening, Layla Moran appeared on the Political Slot on Channel 4 to discuss the problem of water companies flushing sewage into Britain’s rivers. She said:
Britain’s countryside is something to be proud of. It’s part of our national identity and its beautiful rivers, lakes and streams are no different. But that’s under threat. In part because the water companies are dumping raw sewage into them. And shockingly that’s legal.
The government has repeatedly blocked bids to hold these water companies to account including a Lib Dem proposal to name and shame the water companies if they are found to have poisoned animals like otters or our family pets with these sewage dumps. The whole thing stinks.
During the programme, Moran spoke to Ashley Smith from Windrush Against Sewerage Pollution and Lib Dem member Jo Sanderson who swims in Wolvercote Mill Stream in Oxford.
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14 Comments
Pedantry alert – editors, it’s sewage, not sewerage. Sewage is the stuff transported by the sewerage system, and it’s the former that is ending up in our rivers. Better sewerage arrangements would avoid this happening.
Well spotted. Corrected
“Name and Shame” isn’t enough, Ms Moran. It should be banned, made a criminal offence and carry severe financial penalties. If farmers were responsible for it, they would be subject to severe penalties.
It makes one nostalgic for the old Water Boards pre-privatisation.I wouldn’t rule out re-nationalisation.
Chris Bertram 29th Jun ’22 – 9:22am:
Pedantry alert – editors, it’s sewage, not sewerage.
Indeed, but such an error is dwarfed by the pejorative use of the word “dumping” to imply that it’s a deliberate act on the part of water companies rather than due to an inherent feature of our Victorian sewerage systems…
‘1. Was your house or property built after the 1920s?’:
http://www.connectright.org.uk/misconnections/1-was-your-house-or-property-built-before-the-1920s
‘Combined Sewer Overflows Explained’:
https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2020/07/02/combined-sewer-overflows-explained/
Better sewerage arrangements would avoid this happening.
That would likely cost hundreds of billions of pounds and take many decades to accomplish. More realistic to focus investment on the most polluting parts of the system, which is what’s being done.
This is not a simple problem to solve. I have been to a few meetings at our local sewerage works to express residents concern over odour releases and untreated sewage spilling into the Thames and tributaries. This report from 2020 notes the efforts of Munira Wilson MP for Twickenham and Richmond councillors in this regard Blight caused by Mogden sewage works revealed in damning report from MPs
David Raw 29th Jun ’22 – 10:49am:
It should be banned, made a criminal offence and carry severe financial penalties.
An outright ban is unrealistic anytime soon, but the regulatory noose is tightening…
‘Largest overhaul of sewer system to tackle storm sewage discharges’ [March 2022]:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/largest-overhaul-of-sewer-system-to-tackle-storm-sewage-discharges
It makes one nostalgic for the old Water Boards pre-privatisation.
Little or nothing was done to address the problem when in public ownership hence it was inherited on privatisation. Much investment has occurred since, not least because the government can apply regulatory pressure without having to fund improvements. An example is Thames Water’s London Tideway scheme…
‘Tideway: The Story’:
https://tideway.london/the-tunnel/the-story/
‘Everything You Need To Know About The £4.2 Billion ‘Super Sewer’ That Will Revolutionize What Happens After London Goes To The Toilet’ [November 2014]:
https://www.businessinsider.com/fact-about-londons-super-sewer-2014-10
As I understand it, climate change means we get more periods of really heavy rain that could overwhelm sewerage systems in urban areas, leading to sewage backing up in peoples’ homes. Discharge into rivers is seen as the lesser of two bad options in this situation. The only solution to avoid both options would appear to be huge additional investment in infrastructure.
@Brad Barrows
“we get more periods of really heavy rain that could overwhelm sewerage systems in urban areas, leading to sewage backing up in peoples’ homes. Discharge into rivers is seen as the lesser of two bad options in this situation.”
The stuff still might get into peoples’ houses if the nearby river with its load of discharged untreated sewage overflows in the aftermath of heavy rainfall.
Rivers often flow through major urban areas e.g. the Thames. Upstream from London there are plenty of urban places where sewage has to be treated – so discharge into rivers (including tributaries of the Thames) might end up in London…..
Layla does well here. And it’s such a fantastic campaign issue: real community politics, with a national angle – and we can make it our own. It was good to see the photo opp at Tiv&Hon with Ed and Richard testing the water in a local river – all wellies, test tubes and disgusted expressions. Something that should be replicated in Focus leaflets all over the country. An aquatic version of the pot hole!
All water companies should be banned from paying dividends to shareholders until they have fixed their leaks and stopped pumping sewage into our waterways.
Brad Barrows 29th Jun ’22 – 5:37pm:
As I understand it, climate change means we get more periods of really heavy rain…
Let’s take a look at the evidence…
Oxford is fairly representative of England and provides the UK’s longest time series of daily rainfall measurements…
‘Radcliffe Meteorological Station’:
https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/research/climate/rms/
Here are the daily rainfall totals plotted for the past 195 years…
‘Time series: daily RADCLIFFE METEOROLOGICAL STATION OXFORD precipitation’:
https://climexp.knmi.nl/ecaprcp.cgi?id=someone@somewhere&WMO=274&STATION=RADCLIFFE_METEOROLOGICAL_STATION_OXFORD&extraargs=
There is no upward trend or apparent increase in the frequency of unusually heavy rainfall. Below the charts, in the section headed “Compute extreme indices” one can select “Very heavy precipitation days (RR>=20mm)” or “Precip. fraction on extremely wet days (>99%)” to display a chart showing just those days. Again there is no upward trend.
These issues require close coordination and continual monitoring by both the Environment agency and local authorities. Isleworth residents (backed by Vince Cable who was business secretary at the time) successfully brought a class action suit against Thames Water in respect to odour nuisance emanating from Mogden Sewer Works Victory For Residents Against Thames Water
This is the kind of concerted action it takes to get results.
@Jeff
Thanks for your post. Interesting.
A brilliant appearance by Layla on Newscast this week. She covered so many subjects in such an engaging way – not sewage though!