In a revealing conversation with Clive Jones, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Wokingham, and the party’s Chief Whip, MP Wendy Chamberlain, the pressing issue of sewage discharge into local rivers took centre stage. The discussion, facilitated by My Wokingham, shed light on the environmental concerns shared by the community, particularly during heavy rain and the discharge of sewage into our local rivers.
Clive Jones pointed out the gravity of the situation, stating, “We have lots of sewage being pumped into our Rivers here from the Wargrave sewage works and from other sewage works as well, and John Redwood has voted consistently in Parliament to allow water companies to do it whenever they want to and that’s just wrong absolutely wrong.” This accusation underscores a growing frustration among residents over the handling of sewage management and its impact on local waterways.
Watch our interview
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXdFkNSG79c[/embedyt]
In response to these allegations, John Redwood was invited to share his perspective. He acknowledged the challenges faced by the existing infrastructure, exacerbated by population growth and unpredictable weather patterns.
“Parliament agrees that action is being taken and more work needs to be done needs to increase the capacity of our drainage system to handle the increased sewage volumes generated by an expanding population and at the same time any downpours of rain and surface water. The government has made clear to the Water Industry and its Regulator that the works to increase capacity need to be speeded up. In the meantime, before larger and newer pipes have been put in under every main road and for every settlement the industry has to make decisions about what to do with excess dirty water at times of rapid surface runoff and high rainfall. They usually decide to let it into the rivers rather than it backing up in the domestic and urban pipe networks and then flooding into streets and homes”
Sewage in our rivers
The issue of sewage spills is not unique to Wokingham but reflects a nationwide environmental challenge. The Environment Agency reported a significant rise in sewage spill hours, from 1.75 million in 2022 to a staggering 3.6 million. Water UK, representing sewerage companies, admitted the situation was ‘unacceptable,’ attributing the record levels to the heavy rainfall experienced in 2023, marking it as England’s sixth wettest year on record.
Environmentalists and the Environment Agency have criticized the water companies’ reliance on storm overflows, a mechanism designed to prevent sewage backup during heavy rain, emphasizing that such discharges should only occur in exceptional weather conditions. However, campaigners argue that the issue at its core is the result of water companies’ chronic underinvestment in infrastructure. James Wallace, CEO of River Action, condemned the industry’s practices, stating, “The scale of the discharges by water companies is a final indictment of a failing industry.”
In response to the mounting public outcry over water pollution, water companies have committed to fast-tracking £180 million of investment and planning a £10 billion infusion by the end of the decade to reduce sewage spills significantly. These initiatives highlight the ongoing struggle to balance environmental responsibilities with infrastructure limitations and changing climatic conditions.
LIVE SEWAGE REPORTS
At the time of writing we can see all our local stations are discharging sewage into our rivers.
source: TheRiverTrust.org
