Southern Water deliberately dumped billions of litres of raw sewage into the sea

[Buelligan]

I'm not in disagreement with Z's point. More of agreeing with it in an absurdist way.

That's the absolute best way of agreeing.  Quark.

[Captain Z]

No excuse for doing this when there's a perfectly good volcano in Iceland they could be dumping it in.

[PlanktonSideburns]

No excuse for doing this when there's a perfectly good Swindon they could be dumping it in.

[robhug]

Daily Mail had 20 pages of Gareth Southgates favourite brand of soap before this story encompassed 1/3 rd of a page.

Acknowledges it was done completely deliberately, yet no hint of criminal charges for the management

[evilcommiedictator]

Reminds me of Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun 2 1/2

"I've been swimming in Raw Sewerage. I Love It! *moves head towards mic* I LOVE IT!"

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

Inlet to the works all have FOG traps / grit removal and screens for deragging.

Yes I'm familiar with wastewater treatment works. I'm commenting on the fact that the article says anglers reported various "rags" in the Thames along with the smell of raw sewage, as though the two are connected.

[bakabaka]

That's the absolute best way of agreeing.  Quark.

...and Charm.

[Chedney Honks]

Return from whence ye came!

[BlodwynPig]

Reminds me of Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun 2 1/2

"I've been swimming in Raw Sewerage. I Love It! *moves head towards mic* I LOVE IT!"

He got that wrong then. Sewerage is the means of sewage conveyance.

[BlodwynPig]

Yes I'm familiar with wastewater treatment works. I'm commenting on the fact that the article says anglers reported various "rags" in the Thames along with the smell of raw sewage, as though the two are connected.

ah. I didn't read the article as this is pretty old news. Apols.

[Jasha]

Oh come on everyone's been caught short on a day at the beach and had a little tinkle in the sea

[Buelligan]

...and Charm.

Exactomondo.   But, just imagine, what would the Daily Mail say about all of this if Jeremy Corbyn was in charge of the fucking government.  Yep.

Capitalism means allowing, rewarding, applauding, a gang of self-serving thieves, public gangsters, to run the world to suit themselves and then pretending it's an intelligent choice whilst turds float past your face.

[Flouncer]

If you want a picture of the future, imagine tods floating past a human face - forever.

[BlodwynPig]

I was at a EU meeting on wastewater in Gdansk (Sopot to be precise). One German (germane) bloke went for a swim in the sea as was his wont. Came out a few minutes later, covered is sewage. We laughed (behind his back).

[Fry]

Southern Water handle my water, and this news has me absolutely fuming. So much so that I wrote to my MP for the first time in ages. Spent a lot of time last night thinking about whether I could cycle up to their offices at 3am with a spray can and a couple of bricks to really get my point across (I didn't in the end).

How can it be just that nobody sees the inside of a prison cell for this?

[The Mollusk]

Imagine being one of the top guys whose job it is to be like, yeah, dump it lads. Signing off on this dump. As the big executive board of decision making guys we have decided it's this: dump.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

The disgust and anger is good, it suggests we are engaged and believe change can come, but the fact the prevailing reaction is of disillusionment and despair knowing there is little chance of changing this situation now or in our lifetimes suggests we are heading somewhere really ugly.

[Buelligan]

The beach?

[homesickalien]

Anyone watching the rivercide live documentary on youtube?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ID0VAUNANA

Lots of mistakes and mess ups typical of amateur live tv - eg George Monbiot almost crashing his boat, shots lingering too long on the wrong subjects, crew wandering into shots etc - quite funny if your bored

[BlodwynPig]

Imagine being one of the top guys whose job it is to be like, yeah, dump it lads. Signing off on this dump. As the big executive board of decision making guys we have decided it's this: dump.

It's not entirely the water utilities 'fault'. Urbanisation puts stresses on sewerage systems that in some place are ancient. Climate change has increased rainfall, which in turn causes greater number of CSO (combined sewer overflows). The solution is to build in infrastructure resilience through collaboration between the regulators, industry, academia AND the public. Government investment would help, but given these are mainly private assets, a sea change needs to happen at the top of the companies. It is happening and I am hoping (if I leave gov) to be part of that, from a 'digital transformation' perspective.

From a similar perspective, here is a response from someone we are involved with in response to a Guardian article blaming the water industry for release of microplastics:

Interesting framing here. We are the source of mictoplastics through our consumption patterns. Water companies are funded to treat upto a limited flow as agreed in law and regulated by the EA. Yet water companies are held responsible. I'd personally pay higher water bills to fund the additional investment to tackle micro plastic pollution. I don't think blaming water companies will speed up this investment. We need to lobby for a change in law, pass the responsibility to make the improvements to the water companies and personally pay up as we're the ultimate source of the pollution.

[BlodwynPig]

The disgust and anger is good, it suggests we are engaged and believe change can come, but the fact the prevailing reaction is of disillusionment and despair knowing there is little chance of changing this situation now or in our lifetimes suggests we are heading somewhere really ugly.

? Far be it for me to accuse you of being overly negative, but I can tell you that change is happening. The global water and wastewater communities are one of the most progressive collective forces for good on the planet.

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

This is pretty shocking, and surely more should have happened that just a fine? Shouldn't the company lose their licence or the board of directors face some penalty?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-57777935

Southern Water isn't the only water company that's been pumping raw sewage into our waters recently:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39352755

However, as Jeremy Stern notes, these fines aren't exactly a problem for the water companies:

No doubt water companies will just pass the cost of fines onto their customers, and those at the top will still receive massive salaries. But they create wealth, so it's ok for them to carry on polluting out waters, killing wildlife and putting public health at risk. I wonder how many private beaches in the UK are at risk of having sewage pumped into them.

Southern Water was fined £2m a few years ago when a pumping station failed during heavy storms, leading to over 20 Kent bathing beaches being closed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-38365368

If Themes water makes 2m a year, and was fined 20 milliion, isn't that a problem for them?  Where would they find the other 18 million?  Do they just have loads of money stashed away for events like this?

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

? Far be it for me to accuse you of being overly negative, but I can tell you that change is happening. The global water and wastewater communities are one of the most progressive collective forces for good on the planet.

Do you ever read Global Water Intelligence Blodders?  Or attend the Global Water Summit?

[Sebastian Cobb]

What's the biggest thing they've caught in the nets at the shit farm?

[BlodwynPig]

Do you ever read Global Water Intelligence Blodders?  Or attend the Global Water Summit?

I have been less on the industry side and more pure academia, not always water (bioengineering, mathematics, microbial ecology) - and I mainly am involved in the IWA.

GWI did approach me to write an outlook piece, but I never got round to it. It's for the men in their suits and ties. Although I know you have to grease the palms from time to time.

[Twit 2]

What's the biggest thing they've caught in the nets at the shit farm?

Boxing Day log.

[BlodwynPig]

What's the biggest thing they've caught in the nets at the shit farm?

I've told the story before of workers falling into activated sludge tanks and only the bones being left once they could safely empty the tank/lane.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Boxing Day log.

I hope the people that work down there are on at least triple time on Boxing Day.

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

I have been less on the industry side and more pure academia, not always water (bioengineering, mathematics, microbial ecology) - and I mainly am involved in the IWA.

GWI did approach me to write an outlook piece, but I never got round to it. It's for the men in their suits and ties. Although I know you have to grease the palms from time to time.

Ah gotcha, I asked becuase my mate works for GWI.

[bgmnts]

The disgust and anger is good, it suggests we are engaged and believe change can come, but the fact the prevailing reaction is of disillusionment and despair knowing there is little chance of changing this situation now or in our lifetimes suggests we are heading somewhere really ugly.

.

To be fair, dont you jet around Europe on beer tours? That probably doesn't help environmental concerns!