A new report published today by WWF-UK says 40% of rivers in England and Wales are polluted by sewage and is calling for urgent action by the Government and water industry regulator Ofwat.

The report - ‘Flushed Away' – is the result of a nine-month investigation by the environmental NGO into the state of rivers in England and Wales and the entire sewerage system, how it works, its capacity, infrastructure and governance

WWF-UK said the report provides a river health check and reveals that, “shockingly, 55% of our failing rivers are polluted with sewage. ….about 40% of all our rivers in England and Wales.”

According to the report, the pressures vary across the country but the water industry along with agriculture are the main sectors responsible for failing river health.

Although the water industry has recently “made great strides” in cleaning up pollution from beaches, sewage remains one of the main pollutants in English and Welsh rivers. More people, more rain, more development and insufficient investment mean that……things are not as good as is often claimed, the report says. In WWF-UK ‘s view, the research has revealed a “sewerage system on the edge” which is ill-equipped to protect people and nature in the face of tough challenges ahead.

Govt must ensure every aspect of EU WFD and UWWTD are transposed into full law in England and Wales after Brexit

WWF-UK is now calling on the government to ensure that every aspect of the EU Water Framework Directive and Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive are transposed in full into law in England and Wales and sanctions established to enforce implementation after the UK leaves the European Union. The 2027 deadline to achieve good ecological status in all waterbodies must also be met.

It also says that the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales must review all permits for sewage treatment works and sewer overflows to ensure that consents sufficiently protect the environment. As a minimum, they must require real-time monitoring and reporting on every overflow.

“Water companies are relying on sewer overflows to compensate for under-capacity”

There are over 18,000 sewer overflows across England and Wales – and about 90% of them discharge raw sewage (mixed with rainwater) directly into rivers. Although overflows are supposed to happen only during extreme rainfall, to prevent sewage backing up into homes, WWF-UK found that 8-14% of overflows are spilling sewage into rivers at least once a week, and between a third and a half at least once a month.

The NGO has acknowledged that over the past five years the sector has made great efforts to learn more about the problem. Almost a third of sewer overflows in England are now monitored and the Environment Agency has plans to increase this number dramatically by 2020.

The water industry has also established its own initiative called the 21st Century Drainage Programme to assess the capacity of sewers and come up with a plan for coping with demand.

However, WWF-UK said:

“It is our view that companies are relying on sewer overflows to compensate for under-capacity.”

Ofwat must introduce contributing to good ecological status as common performance commitment for 2019 Price Review

On action the water sector regulator needs to take, WWF-UK says Ofwat must recognise contributing to good ecological status as the critical environment outcome companies must report upon, and introduce this as a common performance commitment for the 2019 Price Review.

It also says the water and sewerage companies and Ofwat must ensure that the final AMP7 business plans for 2020-2025:

• Contribute to ensuring good ecological status is achieved by 2027 where it is technically feasible and not disproportionately costly to do so.
• Demonstrate that investments are underpinned by long-term strategic wastewater management plans.
• Include performance commitments on pollution prevention (including enhanced monitoring and performance on both pollution incidents and sewer overflows).
• Include action to stop surface water getting into sewers – a combination of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), household behaviour change initiatives and catchment management.
• Deliver a major programme to upscale innovation and address sewage pollution at treatment works by investing in green infrastructure and new technology, and by maximising sewage as a resource for energy, nutrients and water.

STW discharging into head water of river - Image:Charles Rangeley-Wilson

WWF-UK wants the water companies to produce long-term (50 year) strategic wastewater plans that ensure the sewage system is sufficient to prevent pollution. The UK government and the Welsh government must also make the plans a legal requirement, require companies to update them every five years, and formally approve them.

Ofwat focus on efficiency over past 25 years has led to ‘wait until it’s broken before fixing it’ culture

The report says that by and large, Ofwat’s focus has been on improving efficiency, ultimately to keep customer bills low.  However, investment is not keeping pace with the deterioration of assets and that at recent rates of replacement, it will be 800 years before the public sewers in England and Wales are replaced or rehabilitated.

“This suggests that short-term economic ‘efficiencies’ are passing the real cost on to following generations and our environment. The drive towards efficiency over the past 25 years has led to a ‘wait until it’s broken before fixing it’ culture and left us with ageing infrastructure”, the report says.

According to the report, constant discharge from outdated sewage treatment plants is the main problem and while the discharges are legal, the levels of treatment are not sufficient to protect river health.

Water companies say report “over-states link” between river health and sewage

Reacting to the WWF’s report, a spokesman for Water UK, the body which represents all the UK water companies at national and international level, said;

“There’s a genuine debate to be had about how we as a country are going to deal with sewage and drainage issues in future in a way which protects our environment, but WWF have muddied the waters with an inaccurate picture of what is going on.

“The report over-states the link between the health of our rivers and how water companies treat and dispose of sewage. For example, it makes no distinction between serious pollution incidents and those which the Environment Agency says have ‘minimal impact’, giving a false impression of the extent of the problem.

“By 2020, the water industry will have spent around £25 billion on environmental work to improve the quality of our waterways, and we always want to do better. That is why we have in place a major programme of work jointly with environmental organisations, through Blueprint for Water, to plan the vital improvements which need to be made in the future.”

WWF-UK now wants to see its recommendations for government, water companies and communities to tackle the issues put into action to ensure that the UK has “a strategic, smart and sustainable sewerage system that’s truly fit for purpose.”

Click here to download Flushed Away