Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Water companies have been increasing their dumping of raw sewage into the sea by over 2,500% since 2016 putting Britons at risk of Britons at risk of e-coli, salmonella and shockingly, hepatitis A.

Is it really acceptable for a developed country to be doing this in the 21st century? Surely we should be encouraging people to enjoy our great sea and beaches without such a risk to their health? And what about the adverse economic impact on tourism?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ewage-sea.html

https://www.ft.com/content/0140a61d-...d-1a797f7475bb

https://news.sky.com/story/huge-incr...veals-12677730

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Companies blaming unforeseen electrical/mechanical breakdowns for their problems, while simultaneously spending less than the bare minimum on maintaining those systems and replacing them when life-expired … :afire:

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Welcome to late stage capitalism.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

My posts are your clickbait ;)

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...3&d=1661171514

And in totally unrelated news…

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...ronment-agency

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

As someone that started his professional working life in the water industry, I can understand in general terms the issue at hand.

Sewage Treatment Works/Waste Water Treatment Works are designed to handle a certain flow rate.

When we have storms/ flash floods a lot of the excess water finds itself in the waste water system and overwhelms the treatment plant.

What should happen is that the excess flow should exit the plant before it enters the plant over a storm weir into storm tanks. The excess material will then be pumped into the treatment plant for treatment from the storm tanks after the excess flow has receded to manageable levels.

But the storm tanks are a finite volume, and when they are full the excess flow will then by diverted into whatever watercourse the treatments plants outfall is.

There are screens so condoms, tampons, nappies, wet wipes (all the stuff you shouldn't flush down the toilet anyway) should be stopped.

Also when you say "raw sewage" it is heavily diluted by the excess flow, and a large % of the solid matter will settle in the storm tanks.

The only way to alleviate the problem is to build more storm storage tanks or build more treatment plants. Which is a legitimate question of investment.

And/or stop storm water entering the waste water network. Storm water should enter drains and watercourses, not sewers (unless specifically designed to)

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Interesting, wonder if storms/ flash floods have increased 2500% in 6 years?

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Yes, Redwood chooses to hide behind the cloak of an under-funded government agency whilst instructing it to permit foreign-owned water companies to dump raw sewage into our beautiful British seaside.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

% are a terrible statistic though. It depends what the starting number is.

Also my example above, as I pointed out, was in general terms.

The Mail story in the OP refers to an electrical issue at a pumping station.

This also makes sense, as not everywhere is uphill of a treatment works and pumping stations are required to move the flow to the treatment plant.

Every pumping station I worked at also had the same set up as I advised previously regarding storm tanks. I can only assume that the pumping station(s) involved where inactive for a long period of time or had no storage capability.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

I'm guessing to some extent it's about long-term planning and funding the necessary investment. And having a strong well-resourced regulator backed up by government and not used as a scapegoat.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

it what the tories want they all voted to allow it except 22 that voted against they want no regulations

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

No wonder norovirus is around if they're poking around on the beaches with all this sewage...

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Last week we had torrential rain in cleethorpes ,if that excess water is not dumped into the Humber the streets would be awash with human sewage as the Victorian sewers are overwhelmed and mister poo poo comes back to haunt us.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Or, they could have adequate storm tanks and treatment plants to prevent that from happening…

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Yeah … that excuse really doesn’t hold water (geddit). Public sewage systems have been a thing in this country for 175 years. The engineering is well understood, including the design and maintenance of adequate storm water storage. If there isn’t adequate volume in the system to cope then that’s a failure to invest in a well understood and entirely predictable part of the system we’re paying for through our water/sewage bills.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

I never ague with an expert who's talking shyte ;)

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Alledgedly that's supposed to be underway.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...4&d=1661192101

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Who's up to her neck in the proverbial? Liz Truss
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...da9fb434286c7c

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62633559

In the same time period, water companies have paid out £72 billion in shareholder dividends., mostly paid for by debt.

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...lt-leaks-fixed

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Would help if we stopped building more houses which leave less land to soak up rain. Or people buying houses on flood plains/springs and then wanting help when they are flooded. Flood plains are meant to flood, the hint is in the name.


Also does 2,500% really mean anything in isolation? If initial levels are very low it doesn't take much increase for really high percentages.


None of this abrogates those responsible from properly doing their duty.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Ideology over ecology, mind you her ideals don't seem to get a look in when there's an opportunity to be grasped

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

So is it being dumped just because they feel like it, or is it because there isn't enough water available to process it?

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Or is it they haven’t built the appropriate infrastructure, storage, and processing plants to deal with it?

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

You still need water to process it. People complain enough about bills, so how likely is they would pay more for those things to happen?

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

How about the shareholders cough up?

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Wash your mouth out with seawater!

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Maybe the privatised companies could have take it out of the £1.6 billion in dividends they pay out every year.

Water should never have been privatised, it'll be the air we breathe next.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Ofwat controls what profits they can make, and the prices they can charge.
How does it compare to other major European countries?

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Maybe OFWAT, like OFGEM, isn't fit for purpose either.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Without either of them prices would be HIGHER.:rolleyes:

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

If they had done their jobs properly it wouldn't. Look at the profits being made by these companies, they're obscene.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Just think if all the profits stayed in the public purse, the dividends paid by the water companies since privatisation have dwarfed the £7.6 billion the sale of the assets raised. Another massive Conservative own goal :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Outside England and Wales, I believe it's either provided by state-owned companies eg Scotland and Ireland or by local authorities eg France and Germany.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Indeed … water was never privatised in Scotland so we don’t get a separate water bill. It’s billed with council tax (though itemised separately) and what you pay depends on what band your house is in.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Our water bills fell when a meter was installed. Metering water usage is a good thing as bigger users pay more, same as power.


Maybe we need to meter the leaks and then charge them to the company into a more general fund (but I bet if that was done the quango setup to us the pot would waste it).

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Metering domestic water isn't a good thing because it turns what ought to be a basic human right into a commodity and puts pressure on poor families to use less than they need. As a society we no longer sink wells or draw from streams, and we live for the most part in urban or suburban settings as that permits the efficient functioning of our economy. Piped water is a therefore a basic necessity for the health of the population and ought to be available on an ability to pay basis (as it more-or-less is in Scotland, with water payment aligned with council tax bands).

Water waste is possibly the most pernicious lie in all public discourse. Leakage from poorly maintained infrastructure is the only serious source of water wastage in this country. Turning the tap off after you wet your toothbrush might be the right thing to do on a point of principle but let's not kid ourselves that anything anybody can do within their own home is going to make the same difference as sorting out the THREE BILLION litres of water lost from the distribution pipes EVERY SINGLE DAY in England and Wales. (Scotland manages to lose around 460 million litres a day, so is relatively slightly worse than England on a per capita basis, although per mile of pipe would be a fairer comparison and I have no idea how to find that information).

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

:tu:

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Totally agree that mains leakage dwarfs savings made individual but that saving should still be made. Also it means that smaller households pay less than larger and that is fair. Why should the bill be made on rateable value and not water usage? A house with garden and lost of people would pay more than an expensive flat with one occupant.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

The French don't exactly have a great track record in this area. Glass houses and all that.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

MEPs. LOL.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Those of you who are bothered by this should avoid a holiday in Venice

"Venice has no sewer system; household waste flows into the canals and is washed out into the ocean twice a day with the tides. "

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Maybe it's a plan to deter channel crossings!

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Seriously annoyed that the release of sewage into the sea is still an issue some time after I last swam off my local beach(5 min stroll from my house).
Which was back in the 80s BTW.:rolleyes:

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

That's what happens when the main system is from the 16th Century. Pretty sure most of the UK were still using the street for sewers at that point.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Indeed that is how the original London sewage system was designed, to discharge into the Thames during the outgoing tide.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

And it's only now they're fixing it. The super sewer is still being built IIRC. Interested to see the impact on the Thames when it's finished.

Re: Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016
 

Maybe they can open the Tower beach again :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJNcFEZgOdg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Beach,_London