The government passed the Environment Act this month which did not feature an important amendment that would have banned the discharge of raw sewage into rivers and waterways. People have become aware of the issue after controversial votes from Conservative MPs on the amendment.

Now people are increasingly aware of how much sewage is streaming into their communities. The River Trust even released a map where anyone can look at where and how often sewage is dumped into waterways around the UK: Is my river fit to play in?

Surfer’s Against Sewage (one of a number of groups who have been raising awareness about the problem) released a report this week on the number of raw sewage dumps into bathing waters. They found this practice was done 5,517 times in 2020, an 87% increase from the previous year.

Luke Pollard has been addressing concerns about the practices by water companies and the lack of stringent regulation during debates in Parliament.

In a statement yesterday, he said:

“It’s clear water companies are routinely dumping sewage and that the government’s weak measures will allow it. The system is broken with billions of profits being made for shareholders while the water companies do far too little to stop sewage dumping” 

Check this story for more info:

UK water firms spilled sewage into sea bathing waters 5,517 times in last year | Water | The Guardian