Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Water companies accused of illegal dumping of sewage during dry days

Companies allegedly initiated so-called ‘dry spills’ 388 times in 2022, even during periods of drought and on the hottest day on record

Stuti Mishra
Tuesday 05 September 2023 04:29 EDT
Comments
Related video: Thames Water boss reveals why customers are paying ‘less than they should’

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Three major water companies allegedly broke the law by discharging sewage water on days of no rainfall in 2022, according to a report.

The companies – Thames Water, Wessex Water and Southern Water – are accused of engaging in “dry spilling”, a prohibited practice of discharging sewage into rivers and seas during dry weather, following an investigation by BBC News.

Pumping raw sewage into the environment is permitted only when firms are dealing with “unusually heavy rainfall”. But the investigation published on Tuesday says these three water companies collectively released sewage in dry spills for approximately 3,500 hours throughout 2022, in violation of their permits.

Dry spilling is banned because it can lead to higher concentrations of sewage in waterways, posing environmental and health risks.

Without rainwater, the sewage remains undiluted, leading to issues such as the growth of algae, which can produce toxins “that can be fatal to pets and pose a health risk to swimmers”, Dr Linda May, a water ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, told the broadcaster.

The companies allegedly initiated dry spills 388 times in 2022, even during periods of drought and on the hottest day on record, 19 July 2022, when temperatures exceeded 40C in some regions.

Water UK, the industry body, has called for an investigation into these allegations.

Last year, an analysis by campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) found that the law prohibiting dry spilling had been ignored by several water companies with 146 dry spills detected from October 2021 to September 2022.

The research published in 2022 found Southern Water responsible for four times as many dry spills as the next worst offender, South West Water.

The new BBC report alleges that instances of these illegal operations are three times higher than the Environment Agency’s records. An anonymous EA worker told the BBC that there was a “firm link” between the agency’s failure to identify and investigate dry spills and budget cuts and staff losses.

The officer told BBC the agency was “increasingly relying on water companies to report their own dry spill incidents because of these cuts,” the report said.

“We are committed to increasing our regulatory presence to hold the water companies to account,” the Environment Agency was quoted as saying.

Southern Water’s head of wastewater operations, John Penicud, told The Independent that “so called ‘dry spills’ are a complex issue” and the company was required to report incidents as “spills” even when they were caused by rising groundwater entering pipes.

“We work with the Environment Agency and stakeholders to cut these so-called ‘dry spills’ – and all forms of water and wastewater releases,” he said.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “There are a number of methodologies for defining and calculating why and how dry day spills occur. The Environment Agency’s methodology for calculating dry day spills is still being determined and we will continue to work with our regulators as they define this.

“We regard all discharges of untreated sewage as unacceptable, and we have planned investment in our sewage treatment works... Stopping discharges altogether will take time and sustained investment, however each step we take on this journey is a move in the right direction.”

A spokesperson for Wessex Water noted that the new report only focuses on three major companies “because other water companies refused to provide information”.

The company said three spills identified by the BBC were due to rising groundwater – and therefore legal. It described such incidents as “a known issue that is being fixed as part of the industry’s £10bn investment programme”. It contested the claims on other spills, although the BBC said these were based on its own data.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in