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Tonight, on Panorama,
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the scandal of our polluted rivers.
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Get ready, it's coming.
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Oh.
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Here we go.
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You can smell it.
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You can see the steam
coming off of it.
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We capture evidence of untreated
sewage being dumped.
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It's just started to flow.
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Just as I'm stood here talking now,
I've just heard it start.
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We see the damage sewage causes...
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That is disgusting!
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Ugh!
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..and we expose the water
companies breaking the law.
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All of this is illegal.
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Wow!
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And this is a month's worth of data.
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We're looking at them
spilling untreated sewage
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for over half a month.
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The Thames is
a world-famous river,
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and it's a central
part of London life.
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But despite its importance,
parts of the river are being
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used as an open sewer.
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This is Barnes,
in South-West London.
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Now, the river's pretty low
at the moment, so I'm standing
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on what you might think
is the riverbed.
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Except, it isn't.
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It's a mound of wet wipes.
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Ugh!
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It's just...
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Look at these.
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It's just wet wipes after wet
wipes after wet wipes.
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It's just everywhere, you know?
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How can we live like this?
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Debbie Leach runs a river
charity that's campaigning
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to clean up the Thames.
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It's about the size
of two tennis courts.
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And who knows what's
down there in the river?
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This is just what we can see.
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You don't really realise what it is
until you get down in this...
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Yeah.
..and you start really
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prodding around it.
Yeah, yeah.
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I mean, every time the stick goes
in, wet wipes come out.
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And when you're standing up
there on the riverbank,
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you assume this is just
mud and sand, but it's not.
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It's an artificial construct.
Yeah.
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We call this the
Great Wet Wipe Reef.
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This is thoroughly
depressing, isn't it?
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It's shocking, it really is.
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Debbie, where are all
these coming from?
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It's coming from the sewage system.
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These wet wipes are being
flushed down the loos,
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getting into the system.
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Wet wipes shouldn't be
flushed down the loo,
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and they shouldn't end up
in the river.
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This is raw sewage.
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This is everyone's excrement
going into the River Thames.
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The river that people love
and want to enjoy and picnic by.
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It's absolutely obscene.
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Thames Water says it's spending
£4 billion on a new super sewer
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for London, and that it will deliver
a huge reduction in discharges
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into the Thames when it's
completed, in 2024.
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00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:46,080
At the moment, the system relies
on pipes like these.
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They're called storm overflows.
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Sewers don't just carry
sewage from our homes,
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rainwater pours into them too and,
sometimes, that combination can
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overwhelm the system.
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These pipes are designed
to act as release valves
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00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,200
in very wet weather,
allowing water companies
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to dump untreated sewage
directly into the river.
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The problem is that storm overflows
are being used much too frequently.
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In 2020, the water companies used
them 403,000 times in England alone,
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pumping out sewage for a staggering
3.1 million hours.
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The water industry says it's trying
to use them less often.
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In periods of high ground water,
intense rain and storms,
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there's a risk that the sewer
network simply gets overloaded,
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00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,480
and we absolutely can't have sewer
flooding in people's homes
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and businesses, so overflows
allow it to be released
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into the environment.
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But this isn't exceptional, is it?
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This is commonplace.
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There's more monitoring than ever,
and that's going to give us more
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data than we've ever had before,
and companies are committed
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to reducing the use
of overflows into the future.
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00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:28,240
Some of the storm overflows are
located at sewage treatment works.
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You might think treatment works
treat all the sewage that comes
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in but, in wet weather,
they're also allowed to dump
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untreated sewage in the river.
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This is the
River Wharfe, in Yorkshire.
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Mark Barrow has been filming
underwater here for years.
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The last ten years of my filming
around the UK in the rivers,
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I am seeing more and more sewage
entering the river.
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And I would say now 95% of my dives,
I will encounter sewage,
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or wipes, or sanitary towels,
some form of waste product that's
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been flushed down the toilet.
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I'm in the river and then,
all of a sudden, you've got this
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wall of silt that literally hits
you straight in the face.
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And you know immediately what it is,
because it's mixed in with sanitary
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waste, and then I have to get out.
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And it's not uncommon for me to get
out of the water and literally be
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draped in these products.
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It's vile.
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One of the culprits
is Wetherby Treatment Works.
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Yorkshire Water says some sewage
debris entered the river here,
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but faults were quickly repaired
and clean-ups followed.
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It says Wetherby
is operating legally.
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00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,480
But we don't think that's true.
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Mark filmed the works
dumping untreated sewage
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on a dry day last year.
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It's the 5th of November...
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and we literally have had no
rain whatsoever today,
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and we've got sewage spewing in.
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In fact, it hadn't rained for two
days, so the dumping looks illegal.
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Mark also filmed sewage being dumped
on several other days last year.
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It literally started flowing
about five minutes ago.
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We've had rainfall during the day,
but nowhere near has this been
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exceptional rainfall.
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It's just been what
I call normal rain
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and, yet again, this is flowing.
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00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:14,640
But we've discovered Yorkshire Water
didn't report any of this.
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The company told the Environment
Agency that Wetherby didn't dump any
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untreated sewage last year.
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Yorkshire Water told
us - if it happened,
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it was a single data anomaly.
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It will investigate and submit
correct data if there has been
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an unreported discharge.
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When we film with Mark,
the overflow starts
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dumping sewage again.
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It's just started to flow.
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Just as I'm stood here talking now,
I've just heard it start.
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We're in flow.
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It's starting.
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I mean, that shouldn't be flowing.
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00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,640
We've got sunshine.
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00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:07,840
The rain we had today
was just a shower.
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00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,200
You explain that to me, because
I can't get my head round it.
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It's that smell.
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It's...
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You don't even have to see it
to know what it is because it just
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hits the back of the nasal cavity.
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Yorkshire Water says it aims to help
deliver good ecological status
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for the whole river by 2027.
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It is a complex issue,
which requires significant
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investment over a long
period of time.
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The company says it's committed
to reducing environmental harm
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and is working closely
with the Government.
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The Government has set up
a Storm Overflows Task Force
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and is promising new laws to help
stop sewage pollution.
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This is something that,
historically, has been
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going on for a very long time,
but that's something that both
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the water companies and government
now are tackling with a great deal
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of speed and urgency,
and rightly so.
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As the Environment Minister,
I'm making this a priority.
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So, I take what you say,
it is serious, it needs
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tackling, we're tackling it.
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Six out of seven rivers in England
are not in good ecological health.
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There are many causes of pollution.
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Sewage is one of the worst.
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Untreated sewage is normally
screened and passed through storage
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tanks before it's dumped,
but that doesn't remove
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the harmful pollutants.
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You can smell the approach.
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Yeah, I can, there's a definite
whiff of sewage in the air.
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I've come to a Thames Water plant
at Witney, in Oxfordshire.
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Ashley Smith wants to show me
the storm overflow.
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And that's coming out
of that square, out there.
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You can see the...
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Oh!
..the water billowing.
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He says it's been dumping untreated
sewage for the past 14 days.
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And this really shouldn't be
spilling, except for
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exceptional circumstances?
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If there's an exceptional
rainfall - heavy rainfall,
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or heavy snow that's melting -
then we'd expect to see that coming
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out for a short period of time,
but not for days, and not for weeks.
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Wow!
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And it's definitely
coming out today.
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We can see the sort
of current and the swirls.
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Yeah, sure.
Yeah, you can, yeah.
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That water that's coming out
of there is that classic,
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signature sewage grey.
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Thames Water says the sewage
is partially treated -
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because it's screened and settled
in storage tanks - but you can see
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what it does to the river.
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You can see the fungus here already,
just in that margin there.
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You see that?
What do you mean, fungus?
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See that gooey, grey, browny-grey
gloopy stuff sticking to it?
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Yeah.
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00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:17,160
That is sewage fungus?
Yeah.
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It's actually a bacteria,
but it's called sewage fungus.
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It's absolutely battered with it.
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Now, this might be the most
disgusting thing I've done
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in a while, but I can't resist
having a closer look at this,
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00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:39,520
so I want to just see if...
Yeah.
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..I can get a bit out.
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The whole thing is smothered
in this gunk and this slime.
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00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:49,840
Yeah, yeah.
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I have to say, the smell gives
you a clue of what's causing it.
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00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:58,960
Yeah.
And there's so much of it.
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00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,040
I mean, it is just deep here.
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Absolutely tonnes of it.
Look at all of that.
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That is disgusting!
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Ugh!
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Thames Water says the sewage
spill at Witney was due
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00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:22,920
to very wet weather,
and it's planning a major increase
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00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,400
to the treatment capacity
of the sewage works.
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00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,200
give
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It's the Environment Agency's
job to police water
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00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:52,160
companies in England.
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00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,080
It only prosecuted water
companies for dumping sewage
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four times last year.
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00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:57,280
The Agency declined to be
interviewed, but told us
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00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:59,280
the regulations are clear
and are enforced robustly.
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00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:01,640
The Environment Agency has a duty
to police this space.
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00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:04,520
They have to do the checking,
they have to do the monitoring
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00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:05,720
and they do the enforcement.
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00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:07,880
Do you think that enforcement
is up to scratch?
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00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:10,480
If more needs to be done,
they must do more.
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00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,200
If sewage is going into our waters
when it shouldn't be,
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00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,080
and there is evidence and data,
some action has to be taken.
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00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,640
That is...
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That is how we keep the environment
clean and well looked
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00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,680
after and sustainable.
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00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:30,840
But some water companies
are breaking the law.
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00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:37,120
This storm overflow
is on the River Usk, in Wales.
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00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:40,880
There's loads of paper,
toilet roll, sanitary towels
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00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,000
in the trees over there.
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00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,440
Up, and off you go again.
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00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:46,720
Look at that.
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Absolutely foul.
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So, this...
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This is how we treat
our protected rivers.
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00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,360
Local resident Angela Jones has
recorded untreated sewage
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00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:07,480
being dumped several times a day.
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00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:14,160
I can't tell you what this
is doing to the wildlife.
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00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:22,640
The Usk is a protected river.
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00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,040
It's a site of special scientific
interest and a special
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area of conservation.
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Angela swims in it every day.
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For me, wild swimming
is very much who I am.
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I wouldn't know anything else,
and it feels the most natural place
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in the whole world to be.
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This is my office and my playground.
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Nature has big arms to put around
you and embrace you.
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00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,280
But it also has a stony toe
to remind you who's boss.
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Storm overflows are
supposed to have permits.
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00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,960
But we have discovered Welsh Water
doesn't have a permit for the one
247
00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:19,440
Angela has been filming.
248
00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:22,360
So the dumping here is illegal.
249
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:24,360
Get ready, it's coming.
250
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:25,960
Oh!
251
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:31,200
Here we go.
252
00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:33,680
Ugh.
253
00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:35,560
You can smell it.
254
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:40,640
You can see the steam
coming off of it.
255
00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:43,680
Look at it spewing, look
at the colour it comes out.
256
00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:48,320
It's a horrible grey colour.
257
00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:50,880
I can see bits of - floating bits.
258
00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:52,840
I presume that's some
sort of toilet paper.
259
00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:54,440
There's toilet paper
and stuff in it.
260
00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,040
I can't quite believe this.
261
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,600
This is just...
262
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:07,040
I don't know, I feel so distressed
and upset that we've got a protected
263
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:08,640
river that we really,
really aren't protecting.
264
00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,760
This is really not good enough.
265
00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:19,400
It's not.
266
00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:21,600
You know?
267
00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,680
And you can hear it now,
it's just starting to go,
268
00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,320
and I'm sure we're going to get
another surge of sewerage
269
00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:32,520
coming out now.
270
00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:41,400
Welsh water is a not-for-profit
company and says it has invested
271
00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:43,600
more than £1 billion
in its waste water network.
272
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:48,880
It says it hopes to have a permit
for the overflow by July.
273
00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:55,640
But right now it is illegally
dumping untreated sewage
274
00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:57,200
into a protected river.
275
00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,440
Water companies do take these
matters extremely seriously.
276
00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,080
That's why they are spending over
£1 billion over five years
277
00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:06,760
to tackle this challenge.
278
00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:09,400
Would you be happy to swim
in a river where untreated
279
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,000
sewage is being dumped?
280
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,360
I think I would want
to know that the river
281
00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:16,760
was safe from every aspect.
282
00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,640
Including how much untreated sewage
is there that might make you ill?
283
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:20,720
I'm a keen swimmer.
284
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:24,000
I absolutely would want
to know that it was safe.
285
00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:25,840
Everyone wants to see
our rivers cleaner.
286
00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:28,280
They are not clean enough
at the moment, and everybody
287
00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:33,320
is working hard towards that goal.
288
00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,600
We think we can show that some
water companies have been
289
00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:44,840
regularly breaking the law
at sewage treatment works.
290
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,200
They can only legally dump
sewage at these sites
291
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:50,400
if two conditions are met.
292
00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:55,680
Firstly, there has
to be wet weather.
293
00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,720
And secondly, the treatment works
has to be dealing with a lot
294
00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:01,680
more sewage than normal.
295
00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,600
There are about 9,000 sewage
treatment works in the UK and most
296
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,880
of them will have one of these.
297
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,760
It's a permit from the regulator
which specifies how much sewage must
298
00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:13,840
be treated before the treatment
works can dump untreated
299
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:19,080
sewage into a river.
300
00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,880
But we found sites that
are spilling before they reach
301
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:23,920
the specified level.
302
00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:28,960
They're dumping sewage
they should be treating.
303
00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:36,840
So on the left-hand side
we have the flow going
304
00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,200
into the works in litres per second.
305
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,880
And on the right we've got some time
stamped data telling
306
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:44,920
us when it is spilling
into the river.
307
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:49,520
Retired Professor Peter Hammond
is a campaigner for clean rivers.
308
00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:53,960
He's analysed data from Thames Water
and converted it into graphs.
309
00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,240
So this example right in front of us
now, which treatment works is this?
310
00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:02,520
This is Stanton Harcourt.
311
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:10,360
Data from 2019 and
2020 shows Stanton
312
00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:14,880
Harcourt in Oxfordshire dumping
untreated sewage into a tributary of
313
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:16,080
the Thames.
314
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,160
It's illegal because the works isn't
treating enough sewage
315
00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:23,440
to allow it to legally
dump in the river.
316
00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:28,800
So the blue line's representing
the amount that's being
317
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:30,280
treated at the sewage
treatment works.
318
00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,880
The red line indicates the minimum
level at which they should
319
00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:34,160
be treating when they're spilling.
320
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,240
The deal is if you're ever
going to spill sewage into a river,
321
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,320
that blue line has to meet
the red line?
322
00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,760
Yes.
323
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:46,000
Peter's added a black line on top
to show when the works is spilling
324
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:47,040
untreated sewage.
325
00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,440
So when we see these black
lines here that's when
326
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,680
the blue lines should
be above the red line.
327
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:56,840
But it isn't.
328
00:20:58,560 --> 00:20:59,600
It's always below.
329
00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:01,040
So all of this is illegal.
330
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,240
Wow.
And this is a month's worth of data.
331
00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:08,120
We're looking at them spilling
untreated sewage, in fact,
332
00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:13,440
dumping untreated sewage here,
for over half a month.
333
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:14,600
And it gets worse.
Really?
334
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,480
It gets worse because
if you then look
335
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:19,320
at November and December
it's spilling every day
336
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:20,400
throughout those months.
337
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,800
And then we go into January 2020.
338
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,360
Spilling, you can see the black
line, and then February and
339
00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:28,120
then March.
340
00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:30,480
So in other words, it spills
for six months almost
341
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:31,520
continuously.
342
00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:34,160
And you can imagine what effect
that will have on quite
343
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,560
a small river that this sewage
treatment works discharges into.
344
00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:41,840
Wow.
345
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:47,800
Thames Water says that the issues
at Stanton Harcourt will be
346
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,000
addressed by an upgrade in 2025.
347
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,960
You've done this for
a number of works.
348
00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:54,880
How often are you seeing
examples like this?
349
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:58,160
Unfortunately, quite regularly.
This is not a one-off.
350
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:03,120
And the evidence is that it's
happening elsewhere in the country.
351
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:13,960
This is one of the worst offenders.
352
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:19,200
The giant Mogden Treatment
Works in London.
353
00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:25,280
It treats waste from more
than 2 million people.
354
00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,480
Remember, the site is only supposed
to dump if the amount of
355
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,240
sewage being treated exceeds
the level stipulated in its permit.
356
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,600
So the blue line has
to hit the red line.
357
00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:38,120
But it doesn't come close.
358
00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,320
And yet the black
line shows the giant
359
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,840
Mogden works was regularly dumping
untreated sewage anyway.
360
00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:45,000
This treatment works
dumped untreated
361
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,680
sewage on 43 days last year.
362
00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:53,720
We've looked at the
data and believe it
363
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,080
breached its permit on every
single one of those days.
364
00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,040
That's billions of litres
of sewage illegally dumped
365
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,880
into the Thames.
366
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:06,120
Thames Water says that Mogden
and a small number of
367
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:12,800
its sewage works have struggled
following periods of heavy rainfall.
368
00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,200
The company says it's investing
heavily and hasn't paid shareholders
369
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:20,440
for three years.
370
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,040
It says it has "firm commitments
to provide the required
371
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,720
additional capacity."
372
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:27,640
"Putting untreated
sewage into rivers is
373
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:32,320
unacceptable to us, even
when legally permitted."
374
00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,760
We wanted to find out
what was going on elsewhere.
375
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,400
So we sent environmental information
requests to the other ten water
376
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,880
companies in England and Wales.
377
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,320
We've spent months going
through the figures to work out
378
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,400
exactly how sewage was being dumped
in our rivers.
379
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,960
Our research makes one thing clear,
the big water companies are
380
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:07,280
regularly breaching their permits.
381
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,800
Our data suggests that seven
of the ten companies has sites that
382
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,320
have dumped sewage illegally.
383
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:18,240
Water companies in
England and Wales have
384
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:19,320
been breaching their permits.
385
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,000
The matter of permits
and any breaches
386
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:26,280
is a matter for the regulator.
387
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,040
But be assured, water companies
will take that extremely seriously.
388
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:31,880
They are committed to the highest
possible standards.
389
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:33,720
Why are they breaking the law?
390
00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:37,560
Nobody wants to see
discharges in the river.
391
00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:39,600
But this is potentially
criminal, isn't it?
392
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:42,840
Water companies, they won't
always get things right.
393
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,480
Where there is an issue
they deal with it.
394
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:49,360
But that's not what we found.
395
00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:54,080
Take Welsh Water.
396
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,680
Our data shows three of its
treatment works have also dumped
397
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:57,760
sewage illegally.
398
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:02,960
One of them is Aberbaiden.
399
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,040
The plant is only allowed
to discharge untreated
400
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,480
sewage when the blue
line hits the red.
401
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,520
But the black line shows it was
dumping illegally for days on end
402
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:18,040
last December.
403
00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:20,680
It's happening on the same river
where we filmed the storm
404
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:25,280
overflow without a permit.
405
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,920
Once again, Welsh Water is dumping
untreated sewage into the protected
406
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:32,800
River Usk.
407
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:37,960
They shouldn't go black
when the blue line is that low.
408
00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,360
I've come back to show river swimmer
Angela Jones our evidence.
409
00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:46,280
So what we're seeing
here, zoom into the
410
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,200
3rd and the 4th of
November, for example.
411
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:49,280
Yeah?
412
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,080
It is nowhere near,
100%, the red line.
413
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:56,160
Yeah, I can see.
414
00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:59,200
So from the 3rd to the 4th they're
spilling for 25 hours into
415
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:00,400
the River Usk untreated sewage.
416
00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:01,480
Oh, my goodness.
417
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,920
Let me take you to the next month
at that site, so this is
418
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:05,880
the Christmas just gone.
419
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:07,560
The spill just goes on and on.
420
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:09,240
On and on and on and on.
421
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:10,280
Exactly.
Crikey.
422
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:12,280
All the way through to the 30th.
423
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:17,520
25th, Christmas Day.
424
00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:20,240
Were you swimming in
the river on Christmas Day?
425
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:21,960
Oh, my goodness, of course I was.
426
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:23,000
I mean, every day.
427
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,880
What a Christmas treat
for the river, eh?
428
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,640
I know so many people
who swim up that area.
429
00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:33,120
It's just appalling,
absolutely appalling.
430
00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:35,920
I can imagine the work that's
behind-the-scenes that you've
431
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,280
put into this to get this out there,
and it's absolutely...
432
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:44,520
To look at this on my
screen and what you've
433
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,040
come up with today is
absolutely staggering.
434
00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,480
We can see by these graphs
clearly that they are
435
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,120
releasing sewage into the water
when they are not allowed to.
436
00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:00,440
Welsh Water says its
Aberbaiden works is
437
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:05,640
experiencing some bedding in issues
following an upgrade.
438
00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,120
These should be sorted
out by December.
439
00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:16,400
The company says it works
with regulators to fix problems.
440
00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:24,920
It does "not accept it's
operating illegally"
441
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,920
at any of the sites.
442
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:29,600
It says it continues
to "invest significantly"
443
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,480
and works hard to "comply
with all environmental regulations".
444
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,480
If we are finding
they're breaching their
445
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:36,680
permits, which they are,
and illegally dumping sewage, what
446
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:37,720
should happen?
447
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,360
Well, we have a due process
to follow about how the
448
00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:42,440
systems have to operate
to keep our water clean.
449
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:43,680
And that's what should happen.
450
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,320
Are you going to get tough
with the water companies now?
451
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,280
Isn't it the case
they've got away with
452
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:49,520
too much for too long?
453
00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:51,960
I have already got off
the water companies.
454
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,800
I called them all in to
a roundtable, so I am not
455
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,400
messing about with this,
and nor is the government.
456
00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:02,520
But our evidence shows some rivers
aren't being protected.
457
00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:07,520
Just think of everything
you've put down your
458
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,440
sink, your toilet, your shower
and everything else.
459
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,040
This is going into
the river untreated.
460
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,880
Does anyone think that's
possibly a good idea?
461
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,200
We need to change.
462
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,400
The companies need to alter
what they're doing and
463
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:28,560
get their act completely cleaned
up once and for all.
464
00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:34,800
The water companies say
they are investing.
465
00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,920
But surely it's time they stopped
dumping so much untreated sewage.
466
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:42,560
Time they stopped breaking the law.
38053
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