Is There Anything We Can Do About It?

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helenor horton: Is there anything we can do to fix the sewage that's already in our waterways? off wat says they have been imposing fines and penalties for failure on leakage. There are certainly some things, like wet wipes, microplastics and other wast that goes out with the sewage that will stay in the ocean and not break down. We'll be back on th Thursday at 10am GMT - see you then.

Holidaymakers heading to British beaches and rivers were faced with a very unpleasant problem this summer – raw sewage. The sewage system usually carries rainwater and dirty wastewater from bathrooms and kitchens to treatment works but during ‘exceptional events’ such as heavy rainfall, when it is likely to be overwhelmed, raw sewage can be diverted and discharged into rivers and seas. Available data shows that in 2021, water companies released untreated sewage into waterways for 2.7m hours – with many discharge pipe monitors not working or left uninstalled. Madeleine Finlay speaks to reporter Helena Horton about why this is happening, and the damage it is doing to the environment, our health, and the UK’s seafood industry. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod