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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Sandra Laville Environment correspondent

30 water treatment works released 11bn litres of raw sewage in a year, study suggests

Peter Hammond Wales Yorkshire Water England
A swan covered in sewage by the River Thames at Datchet in Berkshire.
Water companies are not forced to reveal the volume of raw sewage released during discharges. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Rex/Shutterstock

Eleven billion litres of raw sewage were discharged from a sample of 30 water company treatment works in one year, new research suggests.

The study aimed to reveal the volume of discharged effluent released from storm overflows by water firms. Companies are not forced to reveal the volume of raw sewage released during discharges. They are only required by regulators to provide data on the number of discharges and the length of time they lasted.

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