Water UK: Misleading sewage claims help no one

Water UK has hit back at “misleading” claims about the country’s sewer networks.

In a rare rebuttal of national media coverage, the trade body labels recent claims about the age of the UK’s sewers as an “oversimplification [which] risks misunderstanding, misrepresentation and helps no one”.

It comes in response to an analysis carried out by campaigners Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, published by the Financial Times.

The analysis concludes that less than 12% of the 500,000km sewage network was built in the 19th century, which campaigners say undermines water industry claims that sewage spills are a result of antiquated Victorian infrastructure.

However, Water UK has hit back saying that the numbers quoted “make no sense” and “oversimplify the complexity of the challenge”.

In particular, Water UK claims that analysing the entire sewage network does not address the issue. Instead it says that “when industry talks [about] overhauling our sewage network” it is specifically talking about the “100,000km of combined sewer that is causing all of our problems”.

“The point is that it is only the old, combined network that is important when considering overflows. It is this that is extremely aged (indeed, much of it is in fact Victorian) and this is therefore the focus of our investment and attention,” the Water UK post adds.

“Frustratingly, the principle that campaigners are trying to prove is one we agree with. We have said that water and sewerage companies should have done more to tackle spills from overflows. We share their view that investment in the sewer network is insufficient (though for reasons that are themselves far more complicated than activists allege) and we agree that wastewater investment needs to be steeply and urgently increased.

“Though they’d never admit it we share the same goal and, thanks in part to their campaigning, water and sewerage companies are proposing to spend £10 billion to transform the sewage network in England. But we cannot oversimplify the complexity of the challenge we face. Doing so risks misleading our customers and supporters. And ultimately that will make the changes we all want to see harder to achieve.”

Claims are being made against six water firms on behalf of 20 million customers for alleged under-reporting of pollution incidents. If successful, water companies face paying out as much as £800 million in compensation.

The first claim has been lodged against Severn Trent with the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Further action is planned against Anglian, Northumbrian, Thames, United Utilities and Yorkshire.

Ofwat and the government’s environmental department (Defra) are also facing legal action for sewage spills dating back to the 90s.

Earlier this year, both Ofwat and Defra set out plans for more stringent expectations around combined sewer overflows (CSOs).