After nationwide outrage over sewage being dumped into the sea in Britain, the government is looking to reform the system. Wastewater companies are expected to invest a total of £56 billion (€66 billion) over the next 25 years. The goal is that by 2050 no more storm excesses are possible, with the exception of unusually heavy rainfall. Environment Minister George Eustice defended the project on Saturday against criticism from the opposition. The expected additional cost to consumers of an average of £42 a year by 2050 is worth the price, Eustice told BBC Radio 4.
In the UK, rainwater and sewage are routed to sewage treatment plants in the same pipes. When it rains heavily, however, the capacity is sometimes insufficient, especially when the dried-up ground cannot absorb the water quickly, as was the case after the recent heat wave. This could lead to sewage treatment plants overflowing and flooding of houses and streets. For this reason, excess wastewater may occasionally be discharged directly into the sea and rivers – this has recently been used by a number of sewage treatment plants. Dozens of beaches were subsequently closed due to pollution.
In England alone there are 15,000 points where overflow can flow out. This is a legacy of Victorian sewage infrastructure, Eustice said. For decades, both Conservative and Labor governments have failed to reform in order not to increase utility bills for households. Now it costs a moderate sum to fix the problem in the coming years. The opposition was appalled. Consumers would have to foot the bill for “the mess that companies have made,” said Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats. “While they’re making money, we’re swimming in sewage,” Farron said.
Three French MEPs had asked the Brussels authorities to take care of the problem. Beaches in the UK had previously been polluted by untreated sewage.
“We fear negative impacts on seawater quality” between the EU and Britain, as well as for the environment and fishermen, wrote French Liberal MEPs Nathalie Loiseau, Pierre Karleskind and Stéphanie Yon-Courtin. They called on the EU Commission to use “all political and legal means” at its disposal “to end the situation”.