SEWAGE HOTSPOTS OF 2024

THE 20 WATER SITES IN ENGLAND AND WALES THAT RECORDED THE LONGEST SPILL DURATIONS (IN HOURS) IN 2024

- By DAVID DUBAS-FISHER

HERE were 563,730 sewage spills across England and Wales in 2024, according to figures from the Rivers Trust.

It works out at an average of 1,544 a day. That is down from 1,588 per day in 2023, however.

Last year’s spills ran for a combined total of 4.55 million hours. It’s the equivalent of a tap running constantly for 520 years, which would take you back to around the time Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling and Henry VIII was on the throne.

The country’s sewage network empties both treated sewage and overflows of untreated sewage mixed with stormwater into rivers and waterways.

The vast majority of these dumping points are monitored throughout the year with the number of spills and the duration of the spills reported annually.