59
submitted 1 day ago by GreyShuck@feddit.uk to c/nature@feddit.uk

Most of the sewage spills into England's waterways in the last two years may have been illegal but gone unpunished, according to new analysis.

UK law states that raw sewage should not be released during "normal" weather conditions, yet until now the regulator has not clarified exactly what that means.

But campaigner Prof Peter Hammond obtained a definition in secret court papers, and said it shows that for more than 80% of the time sewage was being spilled, the weather was "normal" - making the spills possibly illegal.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Officer_Pickles@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Are you hoping to stop all discharges?

[-] monketman82@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago
[-] Officer_Pickles@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

I'm sure they can be reduced further but because the storm drainage (e.g. roads and roofs) is connected into the foul creating a combined sewer the overflows will still be required. In other areas storm and foul are in separate networks.

this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2026
59 points (100.0% liked)

UK Nature and Environment

901 readers
73 users here now

General Instance Rules:

Community Specific Rules:

Note: Our temporary logo is from The Wildlife Trusts. We are not officially associated with them.

Our current banner is a shot of Walberswick marshes, Suffolk by GreyShuck.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS