‘Shocking’ number of sewage spills in North East

NORTHUMBRIAN Water pumped raw sewage into North East waterways for more than 280,000 hours in 2023, shocking new figures reveal.

Figures published by the Environment Agency found the water company, which is set to raise customers’ bills by 6% in April, pumped more than double the amount of sewage into the region’s rivers and seas than it did in 2022. Northumbrian Water’s sewage spills accounted for 280,029 hours of the 3,606,170 hours in total of ten UK water companies operating in England.

Northumbrian Water’s average duration of sewage spills was up from 3.6 hours to six hours; total sewage spills from monitored storm overflows were up to 46,492 from 29,796; and the average number of spills per monitored storm overflow was up from 20.3 to 30.1. The Environment Agency put the 54% in sewage spills across the country down to England experiencing its sixth wettest year on record in 2023, describing the figures as “disappointing”.

A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water said: We know that change is needed - which is why we are investing over £80m to reduce our use of storm overflows and to upgrade our wastewater network between 2020 and 2025.”

Figures from the Environment Agency for Northumbrian Water are as follows. The number in brackets is the figure for 2022.

■ Number of hours of sewage spills from monitored storm overflows: 280,029 hours (107,536)

■ Average duration of sewage spills from monitored storm overflows: 6.0 hours (3.6)

■ Total sewage spills from monitored storm overflows: 46,492 (29,697)

■ Average number of spills per monitored storm overflow: 30.1 (20.3)