Anglian Water calls for trust to repair Essex sewage spills
The company has already invested more than £260 million into sorting the issue
A water company is asking people in Essex to trust them as it aims to tackle sewage pollution in the county.
Anglian Water said it has spent £263 million on sewage spills and is predicted to receive around £1 billion in total over a five-year period to solve the issue.
Sarah McGhie, of Anglian Water, said the sum will help the firm do more to improve the situation.
“£1bn will be invested into the Anglia region if approved by the regulator and that’s three times more the current investment,” she said.
“That recognises the fact we need to go further, faster and do even more.
“The money will be invested in increasing capacity of storm overflows and improving infrastructure, such as bigger storm tanks and larger pipes, as well as preventing rainwater going into the sewers in the first place.”
"One spill is one too many, so we need to go further"
Last year, raw sewage was dumped into rivers and seas at an average of 825 times a day.
Water UK, which represents England’s nine water and sewage companies, had apologised for the sewage spills and are planning to invest £10bn to help the problem.
Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency, welcomed Water UK’s apology but now wants “to see action and a clear plan for delivery.
“The Environment Agency will be working closely with them to ensure this happens.”
The £10bn investment from Water UK, however, could see bills rise for customers when the body had said in February that costs would increase less than the inflation rate.
Ms McGhie believes the improvements that Anglian Water aim to make will pay off.
“One spill is one spill too many, so we are making progress but we need to go further and faster,” she added.
“It is looking at what we’ve done, the infrastructure we’ve built over previous years and supersizing it.
“All I can say (to customers) is trust us; look at us at what we’ve done so far.
“We are working hard to continue to do this, so judge us on our results and where we are going forward.