The chief water industry regulator has warned companies they are endangering public trust by withholding secret data that could reveal illegal sewage spills.
David Black, chief executive of Ofwat, said that six water companies should “not wait to be pushed” into releasing details of when they start and stop discharging raw sewage into rivers. He told the water companies they also needed to stop hiding behind an investigation he is running.
Cross-referenced with weather data, the water companies’ timings can show whether spills are happening when it is not raining — an illegal practice known as “dry spilling”. Experts believe widespread evidence of dry spilling is a looming scandal for the water sector.
What can we do to alleviate this sewage debacle?