Thousands of sewage spills reported in county last year

SEWAGE was emptied into waterways in Kent thousands of times last year.

- By DAVID DUBAS-FISHER

There were a total of 6,300 sewage spills into rivers and streams in the county during 2024, an average of 17 a day, with the worst offender an outflow in Tunbridge Wells borough.

That's up from 6,255 spills in 2023, according to figures from the Rivers Trust. The spills ran for a combined total of 50,000 hours (up from 48,000 a year earlier), which works out as the equivalent of around five-and-a-half years non-stop.

The country's sewage network empties both treated sewage and overflows of untreated sewage mixed with storm water 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.