Land Drainage

(asked on 10th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will impose on water companies that allow sewage to enter drainage systems additional penalties that are spent on schemes to reduce river pollution.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 26th February 2021

Sewerage systems are used by water and sewerage companies to collect sewage (comprising both rainwater run-off and waste water from domestic, industrial and commercial premises). This is then transferred to sewage treatment plants for treatment before discharge to permitted water quality standards. This is a legal use of the sewerage system and it would therefore not be appropriate to impose penalties for this use.

Separately from the sewerage system, there are surface water drainage systems that collect rainwater run-off from roads and urban areas and discharge direct to local waters. Water companies do not allow sewage to enter surface water drainage systems.

During and after heavy or prolonged rainfall, the capacity of sewerage systems can be exceeded. When this happens, storm overflows act as relief valves to discharge excess sewage combined with rainwater to rivers or the sea. This protects properties from flooding and prevents sewage backing up into streets and homes during heavy storm events.

I met water company CEOs last year and made clear that the volume of sewage discharged from storm overflows into rivers and other waterways in extreme weather must be reduced. To achieve this, our new Storm Overflows Taskforce has been established, bringing together representatives from government, the water industry, regulators and environmental NGOs to set out clear proposals to address the harm and frequency of sewage discharged into our rivers and other waterways from storm overflows. As announced on 22 January, this Taskforce has agreed a long-term goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows.

The Environment Agency currently regulates water companies in their operation of storm overflows to ensure they only discharge under strict permitted conditions. Where discharges occur outside of these conditions, the EA investigates and takes appropriate action, which includes enforcement action if necessary.

The EA has brought 44 prosecutions against water companies in the last five years, securing fines of £34 million. £7.9 million has also been donated to environmental and wildlife trusts organisations in the same period through enforcement undertakings, a voluntary agreement which will include a donation to environmental charities to restore any harm done.

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