Raw sewage spills longest on record in 2024

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1. Raw sewage was discharged into rivers and coastal waters in England for the longest duration on record last year, with Anglian Water and Thames Water recording the biggest increases in spills.

   Environment Agency figures published on Thursday show a 0.2% increase in the duration of raw sewage spilled into rivers, lakes and seas last year, to 3.61 million hours. The total number of releases dipped fractionally and were down by 2.9% to 450,398.

   The figures come a week before households face an average £84 bill rise to pay for improvements. Ministers called the spill numbers “disgraceful”, campaigners said they were “sickening” and the Lib Dems said they should be the “final nail in the coffin” for the economic regulator Ofwat.

   Sewage discharges have now been at record levels for two years in a row, despite intense scrutiny and promises by the water industry to tackle the problem.

   One reason is the weather. Most of Britain’s sewer network combines rainfall and sewage in the same pipes, with storm overflows used to stop sewage backing up into buildings during heavy rainfall. Both years were wet: 2024 was the eighth wettest in England since 1836 and 2023 the fourth

2. >Thames Water, which is so laden with debt it is fighting to avoid collapsing into temporary nationalisation, was responsible for 23,061 spills, up 36 per cent on the year before. Its discharges into water courses around London and several of the home counties increased in duration by 52 per cent, up to 298,081 hours

   Temporary, huh? Better hope it is. Privatization can lead to paying more for portable water.

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