Breach in urban waste water treatment

The European Commission has decided to pursue legal action against the United Kingdom over a breach of EU rules for the collection and treatment of urban waste water. The UK has received a final warning before possible Court action for a case which concerns insufficient collection and treatment facilities for four urban centres (London, Torbay, Whitburn and Kilbarchan). This results in untreated urban waste water being discharged directly into rivers or sea, causing pollution of the environment and health hazards.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "To ensure that the health of citizens and the environment in the United Kingdom is protected, it is key that adequate collection and treatment facilities for sewage are put in place."

The Commission’s action addresses inadequate collecting and treatment facilities for urban waste water in four agglomerations: London, Torbay and Whitburn in England; and Kilbarchan in Scotland. In each case, where the capacity of the existing facilities to deal with flows of urban waste water is exceeded, overflow systems are used, resulting in substantial amounts of untreated waste water being discharged into the receiving waters (rivers or the sea) on a regular basis. The frequency of these overflows can in certain cases exceed 80 times per year, causing millions of cubic meters of untreated waste water to be released. As a result, large scale fish kills may occur and the use of waters for recreational purposes, such as bathing or water sports, is prevented.

The Commission considers that this is in violation of the EU’s Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. This Directive aims at curbing pollution caused by urban waste water (sewage). Discharges of urban waste water causes pollution and threatens the survival of fish. By introducing potentially harmful bacteria and viruses, the discharges also pose human health risks.

The UK received first written warnings for these violations in April 2003 (with respect to Torbay, Whitburn and Kilbarchan) and March 2005 (with respect to London). The UK authorities responded with information on proposed actions to increase the capacity of the collection and treatment facilities. However the problems regarding discharges remain and as a result a second written warning will now be sent.