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Whistle Blown On Deepening UK Sewage Scandal!

The issue of sewage in the UK has been well documented over the last few years, with the latest analysis of Environment Agency data now showing that sewage was dumped into English coastal waters for almost 8,500 hours in 2023.

The investigation, carried out by the Liberal Democrats, found that these sewage discharges took place even on beaches with blue flag status, an internationally recognised symbol that indicates a location is both safe and has good water quality.

Of course, it’s not just coastal waters that are being affected by sewage discharges and rivers are also being adversely affected in this regard, as well. In September last year, for example, it was found that over 384,000 discharges of raw sewage were reported by water suppliers in England and Wales in 2022.

This, naturally, is bad enough – but it seems that the scandal may be even broader than at first thought, with whistleblowers now saying that water companies are deliberately not treating legally required amounts of sewage.

Some plants are even going so far as to manipulate the system so that raw sewage is diverted away from the treatment works and into natural waterways instead.

According to a Guardian and Watersheds Investigation report, the issue of large volumes of raw sewage being dumped from storm overflows into rivers and seas is broader and more systemic than previously believed, with four industry insiders going on record to say that a large proportion of wastewater treatment works regularly fail to treat the minimum amount of sewage as set out in their environmental permits.

These failures are also not going reported to the environmental regulator, with flow trimming becoming more commonplace as a water management practice to manipulate the amount of sewage that reaches treatment works.

What is flow trimming?

There are various ways in which sewage flow can be trimmed, whether that’s by dropping weir levels, limiting the flow by manually setting penstocks or tuning down pumps at stations, according to the whistleblowers, with the aim being to ensure that the treatment works continue to remain compliant with the law… at least on the surface.

The raw sewage that should have been treated is either diverted away from the works and sent straight to rivers, lakes, streams and the sea, or alternatively it backs up along the sewer network and then makes its way into the environment through the use of storm overflows.

This flow trimming practice, along with poor capacity at sewage works and ingress from groundwater, is responsible for the extreme levels of sewage pollution that can now be seen around the country, the conclusion was drawn.

One insider said that non-compliance is now widespread, with some treatment works sending out as much as 30 per cent of sewage that’s meant to be treated being sent straight into the environment without due process.

They continued, noting that there are many incentives out there for suppliers, members of staff or teams to take nefarious action like dropping weir levels or reducing pumping station flows, “including reduced cost of pumping and treatment, and treatment works that were struggling to comply appearing to be passing, with the resulting regulatory performance rewards leading to staff bonuses and increased dividends to shareholders, with very little risk that the manipulation will be found or anyone prosecuted”.

Commenting on the matter, industry organisation Water UK said: “We recognise the current level of spills is unacceptable and we have a plan to sort it out.

“Between 2025 and 2030 water companies in England and Wales want to invest £96 billion to ensure the security of our water supply in the future and significantly reduce the amount of sewage entering rivers and seas. We now need the regulator Ofwat to give us the green light so we can get on with it.”

How can the raw sewage problem be tackled?

Clearly, action must be taken urgently if the UK’s sewage problem is to be properly and permanently addressed.

Just this week (April 7th), new research from the Save Windermere campaign group found that there is a direct link between tourist numbers and algal spikes on the lake, with sewage infrastructure struggling to cope with population surges at certain times of the year.

Last year emerged as the worst year on record for storm water pollution, with raw sewage discharged for over 3.6 million hours over the course of the 12 months, a 105 per cent increase on the previous year.

So what can be done to tackle the situation?

In December last year, the government announced that water companies found to be polluting the environment can now be hit with unlimited financial penalties, with the former £25,000 cap scrapped and the number of different offences covered now expanded to give the Environment Agency greater resources to hold offenders to account.

Furthermore, all 15,000 storm overflows across the water network in England have now been fitted with event duration monitors to increase transparency by measuring storm overflow operations, providing more data on when discharges take place and helping regulators to hold those responsible for illegal sewage spills to account.

Water UK also intends to release a National Overflows Plan, with companies set to support it with over £10 billion in investment to increase treatment work capacity, install tanks to hold rainwater surges, replace concrete with ponds and grass to reduce rainfall runoff and to make improvements to the sewer network so they can carry more at peak times.

However, given that it seems the raw sewage issue is a systemic one and runs far deeper than many may have previously imagined – based on these whistleblowing accounts – it may take more than this to tackle it effectively.