(Blaydon) (Lab): Last year, I was shocked to see, in
information circulated by Surfers Against Sewage
the number of discharges of sewage into rivers all over the country
through combined sewage overflows. Many were permitted, but many
were accidental. As Surfers Against Sewage
say:
“CSOs are emergency infrastructure assets permitted to discharge
untreated wastewater.”
CSOs are permitted to work only under periods defined in the
original EU urban wastewater directive as “unusually heavy
rainfall.” Surfers Against Sewage go on to say:
“CSOs are an essential part of our sewage infrastructure designed
to prevent sewage backing up into homes when there is an extreme
rainfall event.”
However, recent research by many organisations has shown that the
water companies are using these CSOs alarmingly frequently. The
Guardian found that water companies discharged raw sewage into
the UK’s rivers 200,000 times in 2019. Surfers Against
Sewage’s “2020 Water Quality” report shows that there
were 2,523 coastal CSO discharges recorded in England and 387
coastal discharges in Wales between October 2019 and September
2020...
...Until we have such a law, it is right for each one of us
to work with our local water companies and other stakeholders to
press for improvements locally. I am pleased to say that, on
receiving the information from Surfers Against Sewage last
year, I contacted the chief executive of Northumbrian Water,
Heidi Mottram, to raise my concerns about discharges affecting
the rivers in my constituency. At the end of last year, I met
with officers of Northumbrian Water and Ceri Gibson, chief
executive of the Tyne Rivers Trust, to discuss the current
position locally and to look at how they could reduce the number
of discharges...
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs ():...It is clear from what the hon. Member
says that this issue is really important to local people, too—not
just Surfers Against Sewage which
has gathered some really valuable data, including about the coast
of the west country, where I come from. It has been working on
this problem for years and should be commended for its
work...
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