“That’s what happens when you swim in shit”. Water companies face legal action for dumping sewage

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve filmed a report about sewage being dumped into our rivers by water companies. I’ve witnessed raw human waste being pumped through outlets straight into rivers in Oxfordshire. I’ve seen tampons, sanitary towels and used toilet paper drifting along the water and catching in the weeds. I’ve seen brown sludgy sewage fungus growing where fish and wildlife once flourished.

Each time I have contacted a water company press office I have been told that they regret polluting the water, but they are within legal limits. Water companies are allowed to pour sewage into the waterways in “exceptional circumstances”. When there has been a lot of rainfall and the system is at risk of being overwhelmed they are permitted, but these releases are supposed to be monitored and declared. Campaigners have long argued that water companies are not divulging all the information and that the Environment Agency is too slow to act.  The technology to report accurately has been in use for years yet in a consultation last year DEFRA wrote “Water companies have been discharging sewage from storm overflows without sufficient transparency”. 

Picture: Windrush Against Sewage Pollution. Clanfield, Oxfordshire

Now, several water companies face legal action for allegedly withholding data about how much sewage they have been dumping. Professor Carolyn Roberts, an environmental and water consultant is bringing the claims on behalf of more than twenty million households. Her argument is that if they had reported the true extent of the number of pollution incidents, performance penalties would have been applied and this would have reduced how much customers were charged.

The campaigners claim data analysis will prove them right. 

More than seventy percent of the UK’s water industry is owned by foreign investors who set the bills and yet consumers have no say over which company they get their water services from. Water companies claim an aging sewage network is to blame when the system gets overwhelmed and sewage is dumped in the waterways but at the same time, water bosses are choosing to pay themselves millions in bonuses each year instead of spending it on repairs and improvements. 

If successful, the case will hit water companies where it hurts and could cost over £800 million in total. More importantly it might encourage them to spend more on updating the network to protect the environment and less on dividends to shareholders.

Last week 57 triathletes suffered sickness and diarrhoea taking part in the World Triathlon Championship Series in Sunderland. Australia’s Jacob Birtwhistle said on Twitter “I guess that’s what happens when you swim in shit”. Northumbrian Water said both the bathing water was designated “Excellent” by Defra. Go figure. 

Listen to the podcast SEWAGE WARS PODCAST on Angela Walker In Conversation to hear more on the legal action being taken against six water companies and what it could mean for you as a consumer from Zöe Mernick-Levene Partner at Leigh Day law firm, and Ashley Smith from campaign group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution.  If you have enjoyed reading this article please share it on social media so others can too.

#WaterCompanies #LegalAction #SewageDumping #EnvironmentalClaims #PollutionIncidents #PerformancePenalties #CustomerCharges #DataAnalysis #UKWaterIndustry #ForeignInvestors #ConsumerRights #SewageNetwork #WaterwayProtection #RepairAndImprovement #TriathlonIllness #WorldTriathlonSeries #BathingWaterQuality #PodcastSubscription #ConsumerAwareness #EnvironmentalProtection