Rising anger over water as Britannia waives the rules

摘要

Sewage treatment and sewerage policy have enjoyed an unusually high profile in British politics in recent weeks (see story p23). In October, the government rejected a House of Lords amendment to oblige water and sewerage companies in England to deal with their combined sewer overflows (CSOs) along with ensuring that emissions from wastewater treatment works are effectively minimised. Various MPs argued that it would cost ￡150 billion to develop separate storm and foul sewerage networks or up to ￡600 billion to replace all the sewerage networks. Such arguments demonstrate the worrying ignorance (and institutional mindset) of too many politicians and policy makers.