The Environment Agency announces that it has sorted out sewage overflows in England and Wales. Or, in EA-speak, it has “has taken further action on sewage overflows in England and Wales to ensure they pose a minimal risk to the quality of rivers and seas.” By the end of last year, 6, 000 of the “highest risk overflows had been rebuilt, improved or eliminated, resulting in major improvements to water quality in rivers and around the coastlines in England and Wales. The remaining 4,193 overflows had been identified as posing a low risk to the environment. Their potential to cause pollution is low or they are only used in extreme circumstances. The Environment Agency has now set legal standards for them to provide additional protection for rivers and coastal waters.”
That sounds great. As does rising water quality in rivers and bathing areas, which “has been steadily improving over the past 20 years. For example, 76 per cent of English rivers are of ‘very good’ or ‘good’ quality, up from 55 per cent in 1990. Bathing water standards have also increased from 32 per cent in 1990 to 70 per cent last year.” I’m confused then. If all this is true – and I know the Thames has been spectacularly cleaned up, along with the River Don, to name but two – how come two-thirds of British beaches had sewage contamination last year, compared to a third in 2006?