Sewage pumped into environment over a million times since 2016, new figures show

Raw sewage has been discharged into the environment well over a million times in the past five years, new figures show.

Between 2016 and 2021, sewage was spilt at least 1,261,498 times in England and Wales, according to Environment Agency data obtained through a freedom of information request by the Labour Party. Last year, on average, a spill lasted for more than seven hours.

In total, sewage was pumped out into the environment for more than 9 million hours or 392,806 days during the five-year period.

And the data shows that the number of hours during which sewage is being discharged into the environment is increasing. In 2016, the total duration of monitored spill events was 100,533 hours. By 2021, this had shot up to 2,667,452.

Labour says it believes that the full scale of the pollution is likely to be even greater because the monitoring does not cover every permitted storm overflow.

The party said the areas affected include popular tourist and bathing spots as well as local playing fields used by community sports teams.

Jim McMahon, the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, described the practice as “disgraceful”.

“Whilst water companies are paying billions in dividends, the Tories have allowed them to cut corners and pump filthy raw sewage onto our playing fields and into our waters,” he said. “Labour will put a stop to this disgraceful practice by ensuring there can be enforcement of unlimited fines, holding water company bosses legally and financially accountable for their negligence, and by toughening up regulations that currently allow the system to be abused.”

Water companies have come under increasing scrutiny in recent days after drought was declared in parts of England and Wales. Then, as thunderstorms hit the UK, so too did reports of sewage pouring into the sea, with swimmers warned against bathing at more than 50 beaches this week because of the pollution.

The news also comes after the Liberal Democrats revealed that the pay packets of water company bosses have risen by a fifth since the financial year 2020-2021.

Earlier this month, the Telegraph reported that the government had delayed plans to reduce the amount of raw sewage that is dumped into waterways across the country. However, in the most recent release from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the government said it was set to publish the plans by the September deadline.

Water minister Steve Double said: “We are the first government to take action to tackle sewage overflows. We have been clear that water companies’ reliance on overflows is unacceptable and they must significantly reduce how much sewage they discharge as a priority.

“This is on top of ambitious action we have already taken, including consulting on targets to improve water quality, which will act as a powerful tool to deliver cleaner water, pushing all water companies to go further and faster to fix overflows.”

A Water UK spokesperson said: “These figures are misleading and are skewed by the significant increase in monitoring of storm overflows that has taken place in recent years. With full monitoring to be in place by the end of next year, this information allows water companies to target investment where it is going to be more effective at reducing spill frequency.

“Companies agree there is an urgent need for action to tackle the harm caused to the environment by spills from storm overflows and wastewater treatment works, and are investing over £3bn to improve overflows as part of a wider national programme to improve the environment between 2020 and 2025.

“Water companies want to go further, faster, and are pushing to be able to spend more and for processes to be streamlined so that investment can be quickly targeted where it is needed most. Any new investment must be combined with action from government on wet wipes and urban creep, which are increasingly triggering spills.”