New water pollution measures to come in following campaign

Ministers have confirmed that key policies of The Sewage (Inland Waters) Bill will become law, placing a duty on water companies to ensure that untreated sewage is not dumped into rivers and other inland waters.

The bill was put forward by Ludlow MP Philip Dunne and co-sponsored by Stafford MP Theo Clarke.

It will see the Government publish a plan by September 2022 to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows; while water companies will be forced to publish data on storm overflow operation on an annual basis.

During wet weather storm overflows act to prevent sewers becoming overloaded with a combination of sewage and rain, and release diluted wastewater into rivers.

However, their use has increased in recent years as climate change has led to greater rainfall, and water infrastructure has not kept pace with population growth.

This had led to an increase in instances of untreated sewage being discharged into waterways in areas including the West Midlands.

Ms Clarke said the measures will help to cut pollution in rivers, protecting wildlife and public health.

She said: “I am delighted that following my work in Parliament as co-sponsor of the bill, the Government has agreed to enshrine the key principles of this bill into law.

“This is a vital step in reducing sewage discharge into our rivers and an important part of my ongoing campaign to improve our environment, increase the quality of water in our rivers and tackle flooding in Staffordshire.”

The bill builds on the work already underway by the Storm Overflows Taskforce, set up in September 2020 to bring together Government, the water industry, regulators and environmental NGOs to accelerate progress in this area.

Through the taskforce, water companies have committed to increase the number of overflows they will improve over the next five years.

This means a further 800 overflows will be investigated and nearly 800 improved between 2020 and 2025.