Under recent plans to tackle sewage discharges in our waters, the Department for Environment, Flood and Rural Affairs, has announced the storm overflows discharge reduction plan with the toughest targets ever introduced. The plan will crack down on sewage spills, with water companies facing the strictest targets on pollution from sewage.
What targets does the storm overflows discharge reduction plan set?
The plan will require water companies to deliver their largest ever environmental infrastructure investment - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years - into a long-term programme to tackle storm sewage discharges by 2050. This frontloads action in particularly important and sensitive areas, including designated bathing waters and high-priority ecological sites.
How are water companies impacted by the storm overflows discharge reduction plan?
The targets within the plan will require water companies to take measures such as increasing the capacity of their networks and treating sewage before it’s discharged to protect public health and prevent pollution. They will also have to massively reduce all discharges. Failure to meet these targets could see them face substantial fines or having to return money to customers.
It is the first time water companies will be required to act to address the discharges, and the plan follows ongoing work by the government, the Environment Agency and the regulator Ofwat to increase water companies’ performance, monitoring and accountability. This includes a massive expansion in monitoring frequency and duration of discharges, from approximately 5% in 2016, to nearly 90% in 2021, which has been used to hold companies to account.
Under the plans, water companies will have to achieve several targets, so discharges only happen when there is unusually heavy rain and no immediate adverse impact to the local environment:
- By 2035, water companies will have to improve all storm overflows discharging into or near every designated bathing water; and improve 75% of overflows discharging to high priority nature sites
- By 2050, this will apply to all remaining storm overflows covered by our targets, regardless of location
The plan will be reviewed again in 2027 to consider the next steps, taking account of innovation and efficiencies.
The storm overflows discharge reduction plan also sets out that water companies will be required to publish discharge information in near real-time as well as commit to tackling the root causes of the issue by taking steps to improve surface water drainage.
In addition, the plan sets out our broader expectations for the water industry to ensure their infrastructure keeps pace with increasing external pressures, such as urban growth and climate change, to ensure our water supplies remain clean and secure for the future.
Former Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “This is the first government to take action to end the environmental damage caused by sewage spills. We will require water companies to protect everyone who uses our water for recreation, and ensure storm overflows pose no threat to the environment.
“Water companies will need to invest to stop unacceptable sewage spills so our rivers and coast lines can have greater protection than ever before.”
Measures have also been brought forward in the Environment Act to tackle sewage discharges, including the requirement for greater transparency from water companies on their storm overflow data.
As a result of this government’s policies to increase monitoring and transparency, the regulators (Environment Agency and Ofwat) last year launched the largest criminal and civil investigations into water company sewage discharges ever, at over 2200 treatment works, new data came to light as a result of increased monitoring, with 54 prosecutions against water companies since 2015, securing fines of nearly £140 million.
Are concrete pipes the solution to water companies achieving the storm overflows discharge reduction plan targets?
Through rising population and climate change, the current pipeline drainage infrastructure is deemed to be ‘out of date’ with an aging sewer network, with some networks built in the early 1860s, there is a growing need for upgrading.
Water companies are also focusing on improving the proportion of waste water that is fully treated within treatment plants and separating the storm water from sewage and recycling it, which will reduce sewage discharge as well as looking to prevent heavy rain from overwhelming water treatment works.
The firms believe there is a need for infrastructure for water transfers, more reservoirs and increased efforts to cut leaks, as well as helping customers reduce demand.
With wastewater requiring to be taken away, both safely and quickly, from homes and commercial infrastructure, concrete sewer pipes offer an ideal solution for underground drainage, as they can both store and convey wastewater and surface runoff into the network, as well as be fitted with flow control and separation devices to with drainage movements.
Some flooding incidents occur because of blockages caused by inappropriate substances, such as wet wipes and disposal fats, oils and greases, with Water Companies in England and Wales deal with up to 300,00 sewer blockages, costing up to £100 million annually to clear the (Water UK, 2019).
High pressure water jetting is frequently used for blockage clearance.
Following publication of a new Manual for Drain & Sewer Cleaning and amendments to standards, including EN 14654-3 and BS 5911, and industry standards, including the Design & Construction Guide (DCG) adoption code, a number of new requirements were introduced. The MPA Precast Drainage Association carried out a series of jetting resistance tests with both concrete and plastic drainage pipes, where concrete pipes proved most successful.
Made in the UK, and known for their durability and effectiveness as a pipeline drainage solution, Marshalls concrete flexible drainage pipes have a 120-year design life, meaning those concrete pipes installed today, will outlive us all and still be offering effective drainage for both our children and grandchildren, giving a long-term, sustainable option.
Conforming to the exacting quality standards of the BSi and stringent industry specifications developed within the public domain, concrete pipes address the needs of water companies in term of protection against pipeline ingress and leakage, as well as reducing maintenance costs.
With discharges of raw sewage into our seas, could concrete prove the approved, readily available answer to upgrading the networks and meeting the targets of the storm overflows discharge reduction plan? We believe it will.