BBC: Campaigners Refusing to Pay Severn Trent Water
A number of campaigners are refusing to pay part of their water bills in protest at the amount of sewage being discharged into the River Severn. In all, combined sewage overflows discharged into the river for almost 29,000 hours in 2021. It has left many residents along the Severn angry and some in Shropshire said they would not be paying Severn Trent Water for waste water removal.
Claire Kirby, from the campaign group Up Sewage Creek, said she would only pay for fresh water from the tap and not the part of the bill that covers waste water.
The firm said it was making improvements to sewers. […] Most of the UK has a combined sewerage system, meaning that both rainwater and wastewater – from toilets, bathrooms and kitchens – are carried in the same pipes. Usually, all the waste is carried to a sewage treatment works, but during times of heavy rainfall the system is designed to overflow occasionally and discharge excess wastewater into sea and rivers, to reduce the risk of flooding. However, campaigners say this happens all too regularly – in 2020 Severn Trent Water discharged sewage into rivers almost 61,000 times.
Figures from the Environment Agency showed the county had 59 of the most serious water pollution incidents between 2010 and 2021, second only to Cornwall.
Meanwhile, swimmers are trying to get parts of the Severn officially designated as bathing water so that it will be tested regularly. Swimmer Alison Biddulph said: “At the edges [of the water] you tend to get sanitary products, toilet paper and that kind of thing. “We’re hoping to get a couple of stretches of the River Severn designated as bathing water so that the water will be tested to see how clean it is or otherwise.