Waste water companies in Great Britain are coming under increasing criticism for the pollution of water bodies.
According to an analysis of data from the Environment Agency by the opposition Liberal Democrats, numerous systems that monitor the discharge of sewage into lakes, rivers and the sea are not working or are not installed as intended.
Around a quarter of all sewage was discharged unmonitored last year, it said on Monday night.
Pollution warnings have recently been issued for a number of beaches in England and Wales.
Photos and videos showed how sewage was discharged at popular bathing beaches.
Environmental activist Stanley Johnson, father of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, sharply criticized the government in an interview with his daughter Rachel Johnson on radio station LBC.
She didn't do enough to hold companies accountable.
The environmental policy spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, accused the companies of serious failure.
"This is a national scandal and these new numbers smack of a cover-up," Farron said.
"Britain's seaside resorts are being swamped by polluted sewage, but the government isn't showing up."
The opposition Labor Party, citing data from the Environment Agency, had previously announced that the amount of untreated sewage increased almost 30-fold between 2016 and 2021.
The responsible State Secretary Steve Double called on the companies to radically reduce the amount of untreated sewage.
The government has already taken numerous measures to solve the problem and improve water quality.
A spokesman for Anglian Water said the company had invested hundreds of millions of pounds and almost all bathing beaches in the region were performing well.
There were initially no comments from the other companies.