by More than 60 per cent of England’s Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) were suspected of illegal sewage dumping last year, analysis by The Telegraph has found.
Water companies are allowed to discharge sewage into Britain’s waterways through overflow points to stop it backing up into people’s homes.
However, this is only meant to happen during extremely heavy rains. Spills that occur on dry days may be illegal and are investigated by the Environment Agency.
The Telegraph’s analysis of start and stop times from sewage overflow points for the nine water and sewerage companies in England found that 22 out of 34 AONBs had potentially illegal dry discharges.
Holiday spots in Cornwall and the New Forest were hit, as well as popular swimming spots and rare wildlife habitats.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer’s Government is under pressure to tackle the sewage crisis, which caused more than 450,000 total spills last year – for more than four million hours.
Charles Watson, chief executive of River Action, said the figures on suspected illegal dumping showed a level of lawlessness in a broken system, and called on the Government to take radical action to end the practice.
“If anything would indicate the extent to which our sewage systems are broken, it would be this large number of potentially illegal dry discharges – an average of around 20 per day,” he said.
“And then if anything demonstrates the environmental damage being done by this widespread illegal behavior of the water industry, it would be the repeated pollution of the most environmentally sensitive areas across the nation – including our many Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.”
Ash Smith, from the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution campaign group, said the dry discharge figures show the Environment Agency has let the problem “get out of hand”.
“What else can they be illegal?” he said. “The Environment Agency is an absolutely pathetic regulator to deal with.”
The Telegraph looked at the start and stop times of all sewage spills in 2023, as provided by nine English water and sewage companies through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
The data from these applications was cross-referenced with weather data to find spills that occurred within a three-day period without rain, known as dry spills.
In total, there were 881 dry spills at 22 of England’s 34 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which could cause more damage to the environment because the sewage is not diluted well.
In total, The Telegraph found 7,508 potentially illegal dry discharges across the nine water company areas during 2023.
The three day methodology is more generous than the calculations used by the Environment Agency, to allow for some drainage time.
Dorset was the worst AONB, with 149 possible dry spills, closely followed by 147 in North Wessex Dun, where chalk stream habitats are scarce.
Charlotte Hitchmough, director of Action for the River Kennet, which runs through the North Wessex Downs, said sewage spills had resulted in “very sad rivers” that were overrun by algal blooms.
She said the organization had been told children were falling ill after swimming at a popular swimming spot on the river, in the village of Garman, Wilts.
“Undoubtedly there are things in untreated sewage that will make you very sick,” she said. “It is not unreasonable to expect children to be able to paddle in the chalk stream without getting sick.
“We’re getting to the point where we can’t really say it’s safe, and that’s not a very happy place to be.”
Residents in the historic village of Lambourn, in Berks, have repeatedly found their streets awsh with sewage, which Thames Water has blamed on heavy rain and groundwater infiltration.
The Lambourn River, after which the village and surrounding valley is named, is a Special Area of Conservation, one of the highest levels of protection, due to its vital habitats.
The area is also one of the main hubs for the horse racing industry – home to more than 1,500 thoroughbred horses which are vital to an industry which generates £4 billion a year and employs 88,000 people across the UK.
“The water was coming out of a manhole in the street. There was poo, and sanitary towels, it was really intense,” she said.
“The idea that this sewer is very thin and therefore nothing bad happens is not an argument. We can’t keep pretending it’s not happening, or pretending it’s just a little thing.”
Regardless of groundwater infiltration, “it’s still illegal,” she said. “They have to change the law, or accept that it’s still illegal.”
Wessex Water was found to be the worst dry discharge polluter in the AONBs, with 295.
The water company, whose chief executive Colin Skellett waived his bonus last year in addition to his salary of £ 290,000 because of the public outcry of pollution, the Telegraph said that most was caused by high levels of groundwater.
This causes excess water to seep into pipes if they have leaks or other entry points.
But in correspondence seen by The Telegraph from 2020, EA officials clarified that “untreated sewage discharges due to groundwater infiltration alone are not permitted” and said it would control any discharges that occur outside of storms.
Tessa Wardley, from the Rivers Trust, said dry runoff increases risks to people and pets as well as river ecosystems.
“River flows are likely to be lower, resulting in higher concentrations of pollutants and pathogens in the water,” she said.
“Our Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty should be nature and wildlife sanctuaries for everyone to enjoy, they must be a priority for action on sewage co-flows alongside our valuable chalk streams and other environmentally sensitive sites, as well as bathing waters and shellfish.”
The EA is currently conducting a significant investigation into possible illegal spills, which it investigates if they occur within a 24-hour dry period.
Water companies are being given the opportunity to explain any potential mitigating factors not included in the data provided to the Telegraph, such as an area where it may take a long time for water to drain into the sewer system, before the Environment Agency decides is there a license violation. happened.
A follow-up investigation will determine whether water companies face penalties, and enforcement is more likely if a spill occurred in a protected environment such as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Campaigners have argued that the Environment Agency is too generous in accepting mitigating factors, and say any spill on a dry day should be seen as a breach of water bodies’ licences.
The Government has promised to force water companies to stop dumping sewage, but has been accused of failing to take strong action against illegal activity.
The water companies, including Thames Water, disputed the methodology used by The Telegraph, arguing that it ignores the time it takes to drain water and the possibility of equipment malfunctioning.
But in a statement industry body Water UK said: “We agree that any sewage spill is unacceptable.
“We do not agree with the analysis of this data. Conclusions about ‘dry spills’ can only be reached with detailed analysis of rainfall, catchment size, shape and geology, and operational sensor data.”
A previous analysis by the BBC found nearly 6,000 potential dry spills in 2022, using a similar methodology to the Telegraph.
United Utilities was the water company with the highest number of potentially illegal dry discharges, with almost 1,600 found. The company also had the highest number of spills overall in 2023.
Earlier this year, United Utilities was accused of illegally dumping millions of liters of raw sewage into Lake Windermere, a World Heritage Site, after its main pumping station failed due to a telecommunications fault.
United Utilities disputed the methodology and final figures used in The Telegraph’s analysis.
A Wessex Water spokesman said: “National Landscapes (formerly AHNEs) comprise around 30 per cent of Wessex Water’s catchment area and are typically high groundwater sites, where rainwater is held within rocks and soil for days or months before leaks occur – mainly through privately owned drains.
“These spills are so diluted that they look like clean water, and have little or no impact on the environment.”
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously.
“All spills are assessed to identify any non-compliance and we will always pursue and prosecute companies that are deliberately obtuse or misleading – and we will take action if they are found to have breached the conditions of their permits.
“100 percent of storm runoff is now monitored, which helps us ensure that water companies are operating within their permits.
“We are quadrupling our water company audits this year, with up to 500 additional staff and making better use of data and information to guide our work and hold water companies to account.”
