Outrage over record discharges of sewage into rivers and seas

Demand for urgent action over water firms’ failure to tackle problem

- Sandra Laville, Helena Horton, Alex Clark

Water companies in England have faced a barrage of criticism after data revealed raw sewage was discharged for more than 3.6 m hours into rivers and seas last year, more than double the hours in the previous 12 months.

The data made 2023 the worst year for storm water pollution. Early figures seen by the Guardian put the total at more than 4 m hours, but officials said this was an early estimate.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, said the scandal of raw sewage pouring into waterways should be declared a national environmental emergency. He called on the government to convene an urgent meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to look at the impact on people’s health.

Total discharges from the 14,000 storm overflows owned by English water companies that release untreated sewage into rivers and coastal waters were up 54% to 464,056, according to industry data submitted to the Environment Agency . Senior industry figures highlighted the heavy rainfall over the autumn and winter that put huge pressure on the sewerage system. But storm overflows are supposed to cope with heavy rainfall and only be used in exceptional circumstances, such as major storms. The climate crisis has long been predicted to bring higher rainfall levels.

One senior executive told the Guardian: "We have wasted 15 years.

We have not been investing enough." The data on discharges from storm overflows reveals the duration and the number of discharges from individual overflows across the network in England. The 3.6m-plus hours of raw sewage and rainwater discharged over the year includes huge spikes in some outflows.

Forty per cent of South West Water outflows discharged raw sewage more than 40 times, while nearly a third of United Utilities outflows and 23% owned by Yorkshire Water discharged 60 times or more.