The longer a scandal rolls on, the harder it is to keep in perspective. It now seems almost normal that we live in a country that pours raw sewage into waterways on a daily basis. When we first heard water companies were releasing filth into rivers and the sea — killing fish and giving bathers ecoli, it did come as a bit of a shock. Now those stories are routine.
Last week we heard Thames water discharged sewage some 300 times in just 48 hours after heavy rain — in some places sewage was pumped out for over ten hours. This week an annual wildlife survey in Cornwall was cancelled because the researchers found themselves swimming in effluent. A parasite crisis in Devon meanwhile cost some £16 million after the water was contaminated.
