River pollution pledge as minister visits North East 'smart sewers' tackling sewage spills

Water minister Emma Hardy was in the North East on Wednesday to see what she called an “incredibly impressive” innovation that it is hoped will reduce the amount of sewage spills from storm overflows across the region.

Northumbrian Water’s £20 million ‘smart sewers’ project has seen sensors and AI technology deployed to automatically divert wastewater into emptier pipes at times when rain is predicted and spills are more likely.

Speaking from the company’s sewage treatment works in Howdon as part of a ‘Things Can Only Get Cleaner’ tour, the MP said that the UK’s water infrastructure was “crumbling”

Ms Hardy said that Labour had already introduced new rules ring-fencing money for infrastructure improvements, giving Ofwat the power to ban bonus payments to water bosses, and increasing the ability of the Environment Agency to bring forward criminal charges against water executives who break the law.

But, with public anger continuing over the scale of pollution in the UK’s rivers, seas, and lakes, she added that the Government needed to “go further and faster” to deal with the scandal – on top of a planned £104 billion private sector investment.

According to data from The Rivers Trust, 46,492 spills were counted across the Northumbrian Water area in 2023 – totalling a duration of 280,029 hours, which was more than double 2022’s figure.

Last August, the company was fined £17 million by regulator Ofwat after it was said to have “routinely” allowed sewage to be released into waterways and not properly operated its wastewater treatment sites.

However, Ms Hardy praised its “incredibly impressive new innovation” after her visit.

She said: “These smart sewers have monitors in the sewage network so it can identify when different pipes become full and divert those into other pipes that aren’t as full, so that the sewage stays in the network and doesn’t spill out into the sea, into bathing sites, and other beautiful areas that people like to use.”

The Government has also set up an independent commission to carry out a review of the water sector, which is currently seeking views from public, local councils, environmental campaigners and more about the changes they want to see.

However, ministers have already ruled out the prospect of nationalisation after deeming it too expensive.

Ms Hardy added: “I didn’t want to set the commission up without being honest with people about what was on the table and wasn’t. Any other ownership model is on the table and the commission can look at it.

“But the reason I have said no to nationalisation is quite simply the cost of it and all the legal ramifications.”

Richard Warneford, Wastewater Director at Northumbrian Water, said that the smart sewer project had already produced results since it started last year.

He added: “It was great to welcome the minister to our wastewater site at Howdon this morning, and to showcase some of our fantastic innovation projects.

“It was especially positive to be able to show the early results from our smart sewer project, which is the first of its kind in the UK and is already helping to reduce our reliance upon storm overflows here in Tyneside.”