South Shropshire MP, Philip Dunne, has welcomed new public data which will increase transparency on water companies’ plans to tackle sewage pollution from storm overflows.

On Tuesday industry body Water UK published their Storm Overflow Action Plans for all overflows in England. This dashboard will set out between now and 2050 when each storm overflow will meet its annual spill target and what will be done to deliver that reduction.

Severn Trent Water have pledged £250m investment to improve water treatment in Shropshire over the next 25 years. Over the next 12 months, Severn Trent improve 167 storm overflows in Shropshire. £78m is being spent to improve the water quality along more than 50km of river in Shropshire and Warwickshire and help move two stretches on the rivers Teme and Leam towards 'bathing quality' by 2025, as part of the company’s Get River Positive programme, which will deliver improved water quality in and around Ludlow on the River Teme.

These plans are made possible due to the Conservative government’s Storm Overflow Reduction Plan and the introduction of 100% monitoring of sewage overflows. In 2010, just 7% of storm overflows were monitored. This data provides the government, regulators and public with the transparency and data needed to hold water companies properly to account for tackling sewage overflows. This commitment was a key part of Mr Dunne’s Private Members Bill on sewage pollution, which was then taken up by the government through the Environment Act 2021.

The government recently announced a range of measures to hold water companies further to account - including a fourfold increase in inspections and a ban on bonuses for executives of water companies found to have broken environmental law.

 Mr Dunne said:

“I have been persistent in challenging water companies to address sewage pollution. This starts with better data. Thanks to the government taking up the measures I had included in my Private Members Bill, water companies in England and Wales now have 100% event duration monitoring of sewage overflows, providing the government, regulators and public with the transparency and data needed to hold water companies to account.

“The tough new inspections and enforcement regime recently announced by the government, alongside multi-billion pound investment from water companies over the next five years, will lead to fewer spills and much better water quality in our rivers and waterways.

“Locally, I have engaged consistently with Severn Trent Water, who have been ahead of the curve in investing in the water network to tackle sewage spills and ensure the health of local rivers, including through their Get River Positive scheme. Further investment in tackling sewage pollution will help deliver on plans for bathing water sites at Shrewsbury, Ironbridge and Ludlow, as well as improving the health of the ecosystems which depend on our rivers in South Shropshire.”

Subject to Ofwat approval, over the next five years, water companies are proposing to invest more than £10 billion just on storm overflow improvements, triple the current level of investment. The plan would deliver an almost two-thirds reduction in spills near bathing areas by 2030 and a close to 80% reduction by 2050.

An interactive map, which contains details of individual storm overflows and future plans to reduce spillages, can be found here: https://www.water.org.uk/overflows-plan

Photo: Philip Dunne MP with Severn Trent Water Chief Executive, Liv Garfield.