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Case

Clean Waters

A deluge of untreated sewage is being discharged by water companies into our rivers and along our coastlines. But the Government is failing to face up to the scale of the problem. This is why we have launched legal action alongside Marine Conservation Society, Richard Haward’s Oysters and surfer and activist, Hugo Tagholm, to demand action.

Case overview

Sewage dumping by water companies is one of the biggest environmental scandals of our times – destroying precious and biodiverse ecosystems, contaminating food sources, threatening people’s livelihoods and posing a serious health hazard to people enjoying our beaches and rivers.

Around 14,500 storm overflows are in operation across England to keep sewers from becoming overwhelmed. But as our Victorian-era sewers are pushed to their capacity, sewage is increasingly being discharged into our rivers and coastal waters.