Water industry under fire over ‘3.6 million hours of sewage spills last year’
The water industry has come under fire after figures revealed storm overflows dumped sewage into rivers and seas for more than 3.6 million hours in 2023.
Campaigners reacted furiously to the news that the amount of time storm overflows were spilling sewage in England was more than double the previous year, while there were calls for water company bosses to be denied bonuses.
Data published by the Environment Agency (EA) reveal there were 464,056 spills in 2023, up 54% from 301,091 in 2022, which the organisation said was partly due to England experiencing its sixth-wettest year on record.
