Open petition: Require water companies to show how each sewage overflow will be fixed, and when

Created by Robert Worthington
Closes on 5 May 2027

Water companies should be required to publish a yearly update for every storm overflow, showing progress towards the 2050 target for cutting sewage spills. To include: when it’s expected to meet the target, what work is planned and its deadline, number of annual spills vs where it should be by now.

Storm overflows release sewage into rivers and the sea when heavy rain overwhelms the sewers. The government’s plan says that by 2050, no overflow should spill in more than 10 storms a year on average. The plan only sets deadlines for broad groups of overflows, though, such as “high priority sites”, and not for each one. We can already see how often each overflow spills. We can’t see which project is supposed to fix it, or whether that project is on schedule. So if you want to know whether the overflow near you is going to be fixed, there’s no easy way to find out. A yearly update for every overflow would let local people, and Parliament, check whether water companies are keeping their promises.

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