Storm overflows dumped sewage into rivers and seas across England for more than 3.6 million hours in 2023, more than double the previous year, figures show.

The levels of sewage spills for Yorkshire Water for 2023, 516,386 hours, has more than doubled on the figures for 2022 which were 232,054 hours.

A [Yorkshire Water] spokesman said:”The weather experienced in the region in 2023 included a very wet summer and prolonged heavy rainfall towards the end of the year resulting in groundwater infiltration into the sewer network. Nevertheless, we know there is more to do, and we are making headway with a £180m programme to reduce discharges across the region by April 2025.”

​In response to the figures, a spokesperson for industry body Water UK said: “These results are unacceptable and demonstrate exactly why we urgently need regulatory approval to upgrade our system so it can better cope with the weather."

The water companies say they want to triple investment to £10bn over the period 2025-2030 to tackle the problem, which would be paid for through consumer bills.

  • survivalmachine@beehaw.orgEnglish
    1·
    9 months ago

    I refuse to give them a click. Can anybody explain what an hour of water is? There aren’t half a million hours in a year, so obviously it’s some derived term with an ambiguously assigned unit.

    • KimOPMEnglish
      2·
      9 months ago

      An hour of water is an hour that a valve/tap/whatever which allows untreated sewage to be dumped into our waterways is left open.

      There are multiple of these valves/taps around Yorkshire which all together make up the half a million hours.

      This is a ridiculous way of measuring water volume. Though from what I understand even this level of monitoring is a relatively new thing.

      Officials caution that comparisons over the years are difficult as an increasing number of storm overflows have been fitted with monitors over time, and all now have the technology to record spills.