The popular winter bathing at Christmas in the Thames near Oxford had to be canceled this time.

Shortly beforehand, the utility company Thames Water had informed the residents that once again large amounts of untreated wastewater had been discharged into the river.

Whenever it rains very heavily in the UK, sewage basins overflow and a mixture of rain, sewage and feces spills into nearby rivers and lakes.

There were more than 400,000 reports on this last year, writes Oxford environmental economist Dieter Helm.

Philip Plickert

Business correspondent based in London.

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During major floods, the overpressure in pipes can cause brown broth to shoot out of the toilet.

It even happens in expensive West London neighborhoods. Thames Water has published a leaflet for such cases.

"We are really sorry if you are affected by wastewater flooding, and we understand how unpleasant and sorry it is," the company writes.

Citizens' initiatives

Over the past year, anger about water pollution has increased, and citizens' groups are fighting against it with increasing anger.

According to a survey, the population sees sewage in rivers and lakes as one of the three biggest environmental problems in the country.

Celebrities like singer Bob Geldof supported a call for a boycott of water bills as long as utilities and sewage works continue to discharge sewage into rivers.

This is allowed according to the rules of the Environment Agency: There are 15,000 storm overflow lines in England, and over 13,500 wastewater enters rivers when it rains heavily.

However, the Environment Agency does not control the quantities, but relies on the reports from the companies.

We are currently checking whether they have exceeded their legal limits.

The new Environment Act, passed in 2021, aims to reduce quantities, but there is no clear timetable.

Critics say that the water companies that were privatized in the 1980s and 1990s invested far too little to modernize their pipes and sewage systems, some of which were still from the Victorian era.

Economist Helm writes: "The sad reality after thirty years of privatization (of the water company) is high debt, high profits and dividends, and investments well below what one could have afforded."

Paying millions to customers

The supervisory authority Ofwat registered an average of 2.37 "internal wastewater flood incidents" per 10,000 households in the country: 40 percent above the target. United Utilities and Yorkshire Water performed particularly poorly in the northwest. Almost half of the eleven large regional utility companies failed to meet the requirements for preventing environmental pollution. The southern English companies South West Water and Southern Water exceeded the target values ​​by four to five times and had to pay millions to their customers. In the fall, Southern Water received a record £ 90 million fine after the utility plead guilty of 6,971 cases of illegal sanitation in rivers in Kent, Hampshire and Sussex.

On behalf of the Ministry of the Environment, the consulting company Stantec has investigated the problem.

According to this, the extent of the sewage leaks in England is particularly large compared to other European countries.

Dismantling the overflow lines and separating rain and sewage cost £ 350 to £ 600 billion, Stantec estimates.

Household water bills rose a thousand pounds annually.

The Ofwat authority points out that the companies have pledged 50 billion pounds for the modernization over the next few years.