As it responds to the pressure over the sewage crisis in England’s rivers, its chief executive will state that water pollution is not the responsibility of the Environment Agency.
Sir James Bevan will advise that the public should stop using wet wipes to clean the lavatory, and stop using cooking oil to clean the sink. This will help reduce sewage pollution into the rivers.
Ofwat, the industry regulator raised the possibility of water companies being forced to return bonuses to directors if they pollute the environment.
Sir James will tell a water industry summit that the Environment Agency does not have responsibility for the pollution of our waters. They are the ones responsible for polluting them, and that is where most of the blame should be directed.
Sir James will voice his disapproval for water companies that dumped sewage into England’s rivers more then 400,000 times in 2020 and ask them to give more of their profits back to the environment.
He will add, however, that polluters do not only exist in big water companies or careless business, they also affect us the public.
We pollute our waterways every time we flush a toilet seat or pour cooking oil down the sink.
Wet wipes can cause pollution
Seven million wet wipes are flushed each day, which causes nearly a quarter of the pollution incidents in 2020 by blocking sewers. This is despite the fact that it is illegal to flush products that block water flow.
After studies that showed that flushable wipes often fail to break down, the Government is considering banning plastic in wet wipes.
Rebecca Pow, water minister, called on the public to stop flushing wet nappies and wet wipes down the lavatory. She also said that the Environment Agency wasn’t to blame for water contamination.
According to her, water companies, in fairness, spend an excessive amount of time trying to resolve problems that we could solve if we didn’t flush these things down our loo.
Water companies, the Government, and its oversight bodies, are under increasing pressure to end the scandal of sewage polluting rivers in England. None of these rivers achieved good chemical status by 2020.
The Environment Agency has attributed its inability to conduct adequate monitoring of pollution to budget cuts over the last decade.
The Telegraph revealed last week that the Environment Agency’s new monitoring program was failing to detect pollution hotspots. This was called a complete waste.