Calls for greater clarity on CSO discharges

An environmental group has demanded legally-binding sewage emission reduction targets and further transparency from water companies on discharges into rivers and bathing water.

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) today (6 November) released its latest research on water quality, in which it said water companies were still “discharging sewage at alarming rates, polluting the environment, and risking our health”.

It called on water companies to start producing year-round information on discharges, saying the Covid-19 pandemic and evidence that traces of the virus exist in waterways highlights the urgent need for transparency.

Its Water Quality Report provides analysis of combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharge incidents. This shows 2,941 CSO discharge notifications between 1 October 2019 and 30 September of this year. The data shows that for the majority of water companies, the number of notifications fell year-on-year. In particular Southern Water has gone from being one of the worst performing companies to one of the best.

However, SAS reports Southern’s admission that in some cases, CSOs were discharged without an accompanying notification.

The group said: “Their failure to provide this information has put thousands of water users at risk. Over 20 per cent of health reports submitted to us this year were from locations within Southern Water’s catchment with a total of 7 submitted for Hove Lawn alone – these are just the locations we know about. These illnesses could have been prevented if discharge notifications had been issued.”

A spokesman for Southern Water said that a new service which speeds up the process of notification and reduces false positives is being finalised in consultation with stakeholder groups including SAS. The introduction of the system had “teething problems”, the company said. However, it also pointed out that its previous system would have produced “many” false positives.

The spokesman said: “During the last stakeholder workshop, we announced that the new system will provide notifications 365 days a year.

“Storm releases are not classed as pollution but each release of rain runoff and heavily diluted wastewater prevents the misery of internal flooding for our customers.”

SAS‘ report makes four recommendations:

• Nature-based solutions to sewage pollution, including increased investment and associated targets for the restoration of natural habitats to reduce pressure on the water systems and help prevent sewer overflows
• An enhanced water quality testing regime, testing for emerging viruses and antimicrobial resistant bacteria as well as accurate real-time water quality information available all-year round
• World-leading water quality legislation, including “ambitious and legally binding targets to end untreated sewage discharge in all bathing waters by 2030”. SAS also calls for legislation that holds the same standards for both inland and coastal waters.
• Investment from water companies in sewerage infrastructure to eventually end the use of emergency sewage overflows

The group said: “In a year where our health has been at the forefront of public consciousness, it is now more important than ever that we act urgently to turn the tide of poor water quality, looking to nature based solutions to address water quality issues.”

In response to the report, Water UK said: “Our bathing waters are better than ever before, with more than 70 per cent rated as ‘excellent’, and over 90 per cent as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good. This is testament to the collaborative working between industry, government, regulators and other stakeholders to bring about huge improvements in quality.

“Storm overflows have been an essential feature to protect customers’ homes for decades, but society has moved on and so must we. The vast majority of storm overflows and treatment works are now fitted with Event Duration Monitors but we know monitoring alone is insufficient. We have recently founded an Overflows Taskforce with government to accelerate progress and deliver short and long-term solutions, including the use of the latest technologies to improve current measures.

“Water companies are passionate about protecting and enhancing our natural world and are redoubling their efforts to collaborate, innovate and work with all those involved to bring about continued improvement to our beaches, rivers and waterways.”

SAS’s full report can be found here.