Live: Average house prices and ‘selling time’ in every UK region revealed – as housing market thwarts expectations to ‘hit record high’ | UK News

[ad_1]

Billpayers will take ‘a big chunk’ of the cost of upgrading England’s sewage system – but they could be reimbursed

Billpayers will have to bear “a large part” of the costs of improving England’s sewage system to prevent sewage from entering the country’s seas and waterways, the secretary appeared to agree to. the environment.

It comes after water companies in England announced a £10billion plan to cut the number of sewage discharges into rivers and seas, while apologizing for pollution.

But campaigners were furious that the proposals would mean consumers receiving higher bills to repay the investment.

Therese Coffey said she was “quite fed up” with water companies, but confirmed that “a lot” of private sector investment in the water industry “is paid back through bills”.

However, the penalties and fines that private water companies are ordered to pay could see bill payers reimbursed, she added.

Anglian Water last week said customer bills were likely to rise by 91 billion a year to pay for the 10 billion in industry investments, 12 of which related to storm overflow upgrades.

Storm overflow outfalls, of which there are 15,000 in England, currently release excess sewage and rainwater when pressurized, to prevent sewers from being overloaded and backing up in the houses.

There were 301,091 sewage discharges in 2022 in England, according to figures from the Environment Agency, although they do not include the volume of sewage.

[ad_2]