 Labour has called for an investigation after three water companies were found to have potentially dumped sewage illegally on dry days in the UK. Wessex, Thames and Southern Water released sewage on 388 occasions throughout 2022, according to a report by the BBC. Some of these instances were on some of that year's hottest and driest days – including on July 19, which saw the highest temperature ever recorded in the country at 40.3°C. Water companies are only supposed to spill after heavy rain to dilute it and prevent flooding areas with raw sewage. Other water companies did not provide any data for the report because the Environment Agency is already carrying out a criminal investigation into potential widespread breaches of permits. Calling for a further probe, the new shadow environment secretary Steve Reed said: 'The Conservatives have allowed our precious waterways to be flooded with sewage, damaging the environment and our local tourism. 'This scandal is their fault. They cut back enforcement and monitoring against water companies releasing this filth, and are now failing to prosecute them when they are blatantly breaking the law. Water companies are only supposed to spill after heavy rain to dilute it and prevent flooding areas with raw sewage (Picture: Shutterstock / aquatarkus) 'There must be an immediate investigation into both the breach of the licence and the environmental damage caused. Only then can we expose this illegal pollution and bring those responsible to justice.' The BBC report used Met Office rainfall data and compared it with sewage spill dates to see if water companies had dumped on dry days in the UK. The actual number of spills is likely to be higher than reported, as Thames Water only had 62% of its overflows monitored. Wessex monitored 91% and Southern monitored 98%. If sewage is not sufficiently diluted, build-ups of algae whic){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Labour has called for an investigation after three water companies were found to have potentially dumped sewage illegally on dry days in the UK.
Wessex, Thames and Southern Water released sewage on 388 occasions throughout 2022, according to a report by the BBC.
Some of these instances were on some of that year’s hottest and driest days – including on July 19, which saw the highest temperature ever recorded in the country at 40.3°C.
Water companies are only supposed to spill after heavy rain to dilute it and prevent flooding areas with raw sewage.