News

We the tax payers may have to foot the costs for water companies beach pollution.

We the tax payer could face fines totalling £m’s as water companies continue to pollute our rivers and sea’s with untreated sewerage.

The European Court of Justice has agreed with campaigners last week that the UK had breached a waste water directive as its sewerage system had become overwhelmed during periods of extra wet weather, hence that water companies had to discharge raw untreated sewerage onto beaches and water ways.

Understandably there has been anger and frustration that tax payers will have to foot the costs of the clean up due to the failures of water companies who have made vast profits since privatisation and the directive was introduced during 1991. The water companies were given until December 2000 as the deadline to sort these problems.

The UK Government may be liable for the fines, it is likely they will insist the water companies invest and upgrade their systems immediately in order to ensure directive compliance.

The UK water companies will not be under extreme pressure to resolve these issues, we guess ultimately the UK consumers will know doubt pick up the tab via future water bill increases, however we are sure we all agree continual discharge of untreated sewerage via the overflows onto beaches and into rivers should be stopped.

Judges have ruled the UK had breached 1991 directive by discharging untreated sewerage into the River Thames in South Tyneside, the water companies that are involved are Thames Water and Northumbrian Water, they are investing hundreds of millions of pounds for sewer upgrades, in fact Thames Water is constructing a “super sewer” costing some £ 4 billion in order to prevent untreated sewerage from entering the River Thames.

It is estimated some 30 million plus tons a year enters the River Thames from 57 overflow systems

In the end we will all pay one way or another, however for us clean beaches, rivers and water ways must be the main priority.