Sewage dumped for a total of over over 53,000 hours in South Somerset

The analysis is based on official data from the Environment Agency, compiled by the House of Commons Library for the Liberal Democrats. It shows sewage was dumped into local rivers and streams on 4,874 separate occasions in South Somerset in 2023 which amounted to 53,950 hours or 2,247 days over the year.

This is a shocking 145% rise in sewage spills compared to the previous year, showing how the sewage scandal has worsened under the Conservative government’s watch.

Sewage was dumped into England’s rivers over 460,000 times for a total of over 3.6 million hours in 2023.

The Liberal Democrats have led the way in campaigning against sewage dumping for years. The party is calling for strict measures including replacing Ofwat with a tougher regulator, a ban on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways and the declaration of a national environmental emergency.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Yeovil, Adam Dance said:

“On doorstep after doorstep, people have told me how furious they were that filthy sewage had been pumped into their rivers and waterways - they want to send this Conservative government a message. 

“I recently went to Haselbury Plunkett to see how the Small Brook was doing. According to the Rivers Trust, the nearby sewer storm overflow spilled for 1,751 hours in 2023 making it one of the worst affected waterways in the constituency. It was shocking to see how unhealthy the water looked. I recommend everyone to download The River Trust’s Big River app and survey their local rivers and streams.

“Come the General Election, Liberal Democrats will be campaigning hard against this national scandal  that affects so many of our waterways and has been allowed to take hold while the Conservative Government has sat on its hands and looked the other way.”