Taskforce launched to tackle polluted rivers in Gloucestershire

A taskforce has been setup by Gloucestershire County Council to tackle the amount of raw sewage which is being discharged into rivers across the county.

In 2019, data from Thames Water, Severn Trent Water and Wessex Water found they discharged raw sewage a total of 55,387 times.

Raw sewage includes untreated water from dishwasher and washing machines - and anything which gets flushed down the toilet.

Regulations set by The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs state that water companies may only discharge sewage in "exceptional circumstances" such as when there is extreme wet weather.

Raw sewage can also be deposited into rivers via storm overflow systems to prevent customers' homes being flooded.

Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, the Liberal Democrat Group Leader on Gloucestershire County Council, said:

"Some of these water companies are discharging on a routine basis and not just exceptional circumstances.

"In one river in Gloucestershire it's something like 25% of the time in 2019 they were discharging raw sewage

"We understand there are exceptional times, like during the exceptional wet weather we've seen this winter, but this is repeated and regular and that's why it's out of control".

The River Windrush which runs through Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire down through into Oxfordshire has been particularly affected.

In 2019, the sewer storm overflow there spilled 77 times for a total of 1,398 hours, discharging into the Windrush.

The latest data comes as increasing numbers of people in Gloucestershire use rivers to swim, kayak and paddleboard.

Last September, Gloucestershire Liberal Democrats brought a motion to the County Council, calling on it to take urgent action to address pollution in our county’s rivers.

Cllr Paul Hodgkinson added:

"This is a matter of public health which is right at the top of our agendas at the moment.

"I had someone tell me their children had been paddling in that part of the river where there was raw sewage.

"The taskforce will expose and define the true levels of pollution being discharged into our rivers.

"We'll gather evidence from water companies, we'll gather evidence from the Environment Agency and then pull together a set of reccomendations.

"I these will lead to clean water bathing status for at least some of our rivers because I think that will then give people a piece of mind that they're safe".

The Taskforce will:

• Investigate the extent of pollution present in our rivers

• Investigate the extent of the damage this pollution is having on the ecosystems within our rivers and the safety issue it poses.

• Scrutinise the activities of water companies and other polluters, and to challenge them to change their behaviour.

• Explore the opportunity to create a designated bathing spot in some of Gloucestershire’s rivers to make them safe for the public to enjoy.

• Greatest Hits Radio approached all three water companies - there statements are below.

• Severn Trent Water

• "Our system’s designed to stop customers’ homes being flooded during times of heavy rain. It does this by redirecting the waste water, which is mainly rainwater, to a nearby water course to stop it becoming overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of rainwater.

• "This is fully agreed with the Environment Agency, and by doing this we hope to make sure no one has to suffer sewer flooding in their home, which is a terrible experience for anyone.

• "The system, as it’s designed, absolutely isn’t perfect – if you were redesigning it you wouldn’t have highway drains going into our sewers but, to change that, would involve digging up tens of thousands of kilometres of pipes which is neither feasible nor affordable – so we’re looking at what can be done to change things.

• "Including natural flood defences that reduce the amount of floodwater going into highway drains, however it is still early days".

Wessex Water

“In an ideal world there would not be a combined sewerage system, but many sewers were laid at a time when only one drain served a property – carrying both rainwater and sewage.

"We would embrace the idea of getting rid of overflows, but that would require significant investment, so a further change in the regulatory approach is needed.

"We'd also need a change of approach by government to no longer allow developers to have the right to connect surface water to combined systems, which adds to sewer capacity causing overflows to operate.

"We’re calling on the government to rule that all new developments cannot connect their surface water drainage to sewers that have sewage in them.

"We have invested where we can to make improvements, and since 2000 we have invested £181m to upgrade more than 582 CSOs, and there are plans to improve more over the next five years".

Thames Water

“Discharges of untreated sewage are simply unacceptable, even when they are legally permitted, and we will work with the government, Ofwat and the Environment Agency to accelerate work to stop them being necessary.

"We have a long way to go – and we certainly can’t do it on our own – but the ambition is clear.

“Our aim will always be to try and do the right thing for our rivers and for the communities who love and value them.

"We are fully aware of our responsibilities as one of the custodians of these incredible environments and are committed to working tirelessly to protect and enhance them.”

To look at the breakdown of where sewage overflows are taking place, how often and for how long visit https://www.theriverstrust.org/together-for-rivers/

{{news}}

• gloucestershire
• pollution
• rivers