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Water Companies Environmental Performance

Rob Moore said:
In case you have not read it
www.gov.uk

Water and sewerage companies in England: environmental performance report 2021

www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
Click to expand...
What a coincidence! I live in the Anglia Water Region and consequently do a lot of fishing in the area. Weeks and weeks ago I requested information regarding the incidents of sewage and foul water being discharged into Norfolk rivers. I quoted the Freedom of Information Act. I was told by Anglia Water that as they are a "private" company, they are not obliged to provide said information. So, I kept nibbling away and lo and behold I received an email yesterday with a huge attachment detailing the locations and severity of sewage/foul water getting into our rivers. I have only "skim read" it so far but its not good.
 
  • 2 of the 9 water companies are rated as poor (1 star) and 4 are rated as requiring improvement (2 stars) in our EPA – this represents much worse sector performance than 2020 driven both by our higher expectations and poorer performance
  • If this score were linked to a catering establishment (Scores On The Doors), there would be a warning for the 1 star and a follow-up inspection within a fortnight. If a 0 score were given, then the establishment would be closed until it was deemed that food safety had been passed as satisfactory.
 
Chris Guy said:
  • 2 of the 9 water companies are rated as poor (1 star) and 4 are rated as requiring improvement (2 stars) in our EPA – this represents much worse sector performance than 2020 driven both by our higher expectations and poorer performance
  • If this score were linked to a catering establishment (Scores On The Doors), there would be a warning for the 1 star and a follow-up inspection within a fortnight. If a 0 score were given, then the establishment would be closed until it was deemed that food safety had been passed as satisfactory.
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And herein lies the problem. Customers have no say in which water company they use, and they can't be sacked by Government and replaced overnight.

Market forces, consumer choice etc doesn't apply - another reason why privatisation of the water companies has been an unmitigated disaster.
 
Paul Bullinger said:
What a coincidence! I live in the Anglia Water Region and consequently do a lot of fishing in the area. Weeks and weeks ago I requested information regarding the incidents of sewage and foul water being discharged into Norfolk rivers. I quoted the Freedom of Information Act. I was told by Anglia Water that as they are a "private" company, they are not obliged to provide said information. So, I kept nibbling away and lo and behold I received an email yesterday with a huge attachment detailing the locations and severity of sewage/foul water getting into our rivers. I have only "skim read" it so far but its not good.
Click to expand...
I asked the EA on how many abstraction licences were granted and what each farmer was allowed to abstract in the East Anglia region and also how they went about policing it. They acknowledged my email and said under the Freedom Of Information act, they were obliged to answer my query. Still waiting, more than a years later.
 
Following on from my previous post, the report from Anglia Water (which did not make good reading) quoted the following websites for those interested in monitoring water quality:
www.theriverstrust.org/key-issues/sewage-in-rivers

and

Open WIMS data

environment.data.gov.uk environment.data.gov.uk

Anglia Water have confirmed in their response to me that storm overflows were fitted in the 1960's and 70's to prevent flooding to homes and businesses. What is clear, is that no attempt has been made to replace overflows with alternative ways of disposing of excess water, which would include sewage and field run-off, since Water Co's were privatised. All they have done is fit EDM's (Event Duration Monitors) to note the scale of each overflows "event"!
I am going to be very "old school" here and say that there is no "shame" in what they are doing (or NOT doing) as long as the profit god keeps producing.
 
Forget about the Sewage in our rivers the chemical issues are a lot worse than anyone ever thought. A Fishery manager mate has been studying the water quality on the river Colne in West London. A while back he did a presentation, it was very worrying. Last Wednesday he did a follow up presentation. The chemicals were found using Gas chromatography and each test cost around £800. They found 270+ chemicals in the rive Colne, this does not include chemicals that do not show with this test. You name it its in the Colne including chemicals that have never been allowed in this country. They thought the main reason would be Watford (some areas in Watford are Invertebrate dead). The chemicals carried on upstream all the way to the the borehole the Colne comes out of. One Hundred yards below the borehole they found 78 chemicals. The worry is that the chalk Aquifer supplying London is also contaminated. He badgered Affinity water for results from the boreholes they supply drinking water from in the area. They finally sent him results from one bore hole which showed 14 chemicals but would not tell him which one. Probably their best result, as they were not likely to send him their worst. His worry is what does mixing all these chemicals do to people or the river. What does our tap water contain and what does exposure to these chemicals do to pregnant women or kids.
 
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