Everything you need to know about the government’s sewage row

The government came under fire following a vote on raw sewage

By Natalie Bloomer

Last week MPs voted to block an amendment to the Environmental Bill to stop water companies pumping raw sewage into rivers and the sea.

The vote didn’t initially attract much attention but over the weekend anger started to build with more and more social media accounts posting about it and the issue being picked up by most of the national press. 

So what is the row all about and how did MPs in Northamptonshire vote?

England has a combined sewer system dating back to Victorian times. It means that both rainfall and human waste move through the same pipes to sewage treatment works. 

When we experience very wet weather, water companies are allowed to discharge rainfall and small amounts of sewage through release valves known as storm overflows. However, data from the Environment Agency shows that raw sewage has been released into coastal waters and rivers 400,000 times in the last year. 

Last week the Commons voted on amendments put forward by the Lords to the government’s E…