 Water firms have been accused of a 'scandalous cover-up' after claiming they are unable to show how much sewage is being pumped into rivers and seas. The Liberal Democrats said they used Environment Information Regulations to try and find out the volume of pollution but were told the data doesn't exist. Last year a parliamentary committee found that more than two billion litres of raw sewage had been dumped into the River Thames over two days following a storm. Despite this, Thames Water told the Lib Dems it 'does not record the volume of wastewater discharged into the environment via storm overflows'. Other companies across England and Wales said the monitors they use only measure frequency and duration of spills, not volume. Six of these companies now face legal action for allegedly misleading the Environment Agency and Ofwat about the number of times they have discharged sewage, meaning they may have overcharged customers. Severn Trent Water, Thames Water, United Utilities, Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water could end up paying over £800 million in compensation to more than 20 million customers if the cases are successful. Water UK has said these claims are 'entirely without merit'. Scottish Water, which is publicly owned, does record and publish volume data, but only a small proportion of its discharges are monitored. In Northern Ireland, sewage discharges are not routinely monitored and the last time information was released was in late 2021 in response to a question tabled in Stormont. An aerial view shows the outfall into the River Thames, at Thames Water's Crossness Sewage Treatment Works, in south east London (Picture: AFP via Getty) A urinal on Sonning Bridge, residents suspect the mystery artist Impro has put the piece up in disgust at recent sewage levels released in to the Thames (Picture: Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock)){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Water firms have been accused of a ‘scandalous cover-up’ after claiming they are unable to show how much sewage is being pumped into rivers and seas.
The Liberal Democrats said they used Environment Information Regulations to try and find out the volume of pollution but were told the data doesn’t exist.
Last year a parliamentary committee found that more than two billion litres of raw sewage had been dumped into the River Thames over two days following a storm.
Despite this, Thames Water told the Lib Dems it ‘does not record the volume of wastewater discharged into the environment via storm overflows’.