MP's outrage at scale of sewage dumped in the region's waterways - Severn Trent knows there is 'work to be done'
An MP has described the scale of sewage dumped in the region's waterways as a "scandal".
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North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has expressed her dismay after it was revealed that 454,155 hours worth of sewage was dumped into waterways by Severn Trent last year.
Data released by the Environment Agency also revealed that sewage was pumped into North Shropshire rivers for 7,952 hours last year.
The water company said it understands that there is "work to be done" to reduce spills, and that it is investing £250 million to improve storm overflows.
Both the River Roden in Wem and the Common Brook, a tributary of the River Perry near Oswestry, had sewage spilling into them for more than 2,000 hours last year while the River Morda in Oswestry, Tetchill Brook in Ellesmere and the River Vyrnwy in Llanymynech were also badly hit.
Mrs Morgan has called for regulator Ofwat to be scrapped and replaced to "properly" hold water companies to account after the total hours that excrement was pumped into North Shropshire streams and rivers increased by 33 per cent compared to 2023.
The news comes after Mrs Morgan recently joined Liberal Democrat party leader Sir Ed Davey ins canoeing along the River Severn in Shrewsbury to campaign for cleaner waterways.
The Lib Dems said an average of 105 litres of water is leaked per property served by Severn Trent every day.
Mrs Morgan said: "The scale of sewage dumping both here in Shropshire and across the country is a national scandal.
"It’s disgraceful that the Conservatives allowed the situation to get so bad and the new Labour government is now failing to get a grip on the crisis.
"Ofwat must go, local rivers must be protected and the water companies profiting from pollution must be held to account.
"I will continue to stand up for residents in Shropshire who are paying sky-high water bills and deserve much much better."
Severn Trent's £78m Bathing Rivers programme was completed in March this year. The programme spanned from Knighton and downstream of Ludlow where the water company said "significant" storage capacity has been added.
Meanwhile, Severn Trent added that it is investing £11.5m to upgrade six sewage treatment works in Shropshire, including at its Monkmoor site. A new tank has also been installed at the Pontesbury Sewage Treatment Works that is hoped to provide an additional 70,000 litres of storage.
A spokesperson for Severn Trent said: "We understand there's work to be done when it comes to reducing spills, and we’re investing more than £250million across Shropshire to improve storm overflows. This includes already installing more than 150 solutions across the River Severn alone.
"We’re going further and faster to reduce spills from storm overflows, and we expect that by December 2025 we will have reduced spills to an average of 18 per year. We’re committed to making a lasting difference and to play our part in helping Shropshire’s waterways to be cleaner for generations to come."
