Hundreds of discharge pipes across the UK are potentially illegally dumping raw sewage into the country’s waterways, an investigation has found.
There are more than 870 pipes which could be operating without permits, of which upwards of 200 are confirmed by water companies to be in use, according to findings from Channel 4’s Dispatches programme.
Except in very limited circumstances, permits are required for firms to spill untreated sewage into rivers and seas during periods of high rainfall, to prevent sewers becoming overloaded and backing up into homes. Using Environmental Information Regulation requests, Dispatches found that Welsh Water has 184 sewage discharge pipes without permits, all of which are said to be in use.
