DOWNLOAD SEWAGE POLLUTION REPORTS

Contact: Peter Hammond   watervole@icloud.com

Analysis of water and sewerage company performance

2024

Illegal spills by United Utilities

lllegal sewage spilling to Lake Windermere and nearby watercourses identified by SaveWindermere and Windrush Against Sewage Pollution.

501 days with spills to 4 STWs & 3 pumping stations between 2018 and 2023

Operator Self-Monitoring

WASP investigates potential abuse of Operator Self-Monitoring of sewage treatment

20 examples are discussed in detail along with water company responses

Severn Trent Water

made illegal sewage spills on 803 days at 50 STWs

provided such unreliable spill data for 85 STWs that WASP could not disentangle all legal and illegal sewage spills

United Utilities

made illegal sewage spills on 571 days at 35 STWs

obstructed investigation of 37 STWs

provided such unreliable spill data for 47 STWs that WASP could not disentangle all legal and illegal sewage spills

Event Duration Monitors (EDMs)

WASP demonstrates that even when sewage spill monitors work they generate inaccurate data. 

In 2026, EDM data will be a metric in the EA’s annual review of water companies – “a system built on sand”.

2023

2,274 days with illegal sewage discharges to 11 Welsh rivers from 2018 to 2023 

Cardigan STW, has been in breach of its permit for a decade without criminal prosecution.

WASP dispels the myth about Victorian sewerage networks.

 

Only 12 % of all sewers in England are Victorian in age.

WASP estimates volumes of sewage spills and shows how pollution exposure progresses down a river catchment from the headwaters.

We need your consent to load the translations

We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.