The Guardian: UK ‘falling behind’ on sewage pollution regulation while EU tightens rules
The UK is falling further behind on sewage pollution regulation as the EU tightens its rules to clean up Europe’s waterways, say critics.
EU member states agreed on Tuesday to update the urban waste water treatment directive to strengthen rules to clean up sewage and chemical pollution from treatment plants. European countries will have to update their sewage systems and treatment plants so that large amounts of human waste and chemicals are removed from rivers by a deadline of 2035. The companies deemed responsible will be required to pay for the infrastructure changes.
Meanwhile, the UK still has the old 1991 UWWT directive legislation, which was brought into EU law when the UK was still a member. UK water companies are charged with rules from this original directive, such as not allowing sewage to spill from storm overflows into rivers except under exceptional circumstances, for example extreme rainfall.
