We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Gareth Wright please sign in and let everyone know.

Release of untreated effluent into the river Cam

Gareth Wright made this Environmental Information Regulations request to Anglian Water Services Limited
You only have a right in law to access information about the environment from this authority
This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.

We're waiting for Gareth Wright to read recent responses and update the status.

Dear Anglian Water Services Limited,

Please could you provide me with a breakdown of untreated effluent into the river Cam and its tributaries. In particular I am interested in;

1. The number of occasions that these releases occur on an anual basis.
2. The data on this for the last 10 years.
3. Locations of effluent discharge.

Yours faithfully,

Gareth Wright

EIR, Anglian Water Services Limited

Thank you for your email to the Anglian Water Environmental Information
Regulations mailbox.  

 

If you are requesting information then we will respond to your request
within 20 working days.   

 

If you are reporting an operational issue such as a water burst, no water,
sewage spill, or no sewerage facilities please contact us directly. We are
open 24 hours a day.  You can contact us:  

Online. If you want to report a water or sewerage issue you can do
that [1]here. 

 

By telephone,  [2]03457 145 145 

 

By email, please use our [3]online form.  

 

By post 

 

Anglian Water 
PO Box 4994 
LANCING 
BN11 9AL 

Just so you know, all of our calls are recorded for quality and training
purposes and you can be safe in the knowledge that we always follow the
Data Protection Act for any personal information we hold. For more
information please read our [4]Privacy Policy. 

 

Yours sincerely  

 

EIR Team 

Anglian Water Services Limited 

Lancaster House, Lancaster Way, Ermine Business Park, Huntingdon,
Cambridgeshire PE29 6XU 

Email  [5][email address]  

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/help-and-...
2. file:///tmp/tel:+4403457%20145%20145
3. https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/contact-u...
4. Privacy Policy
https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/about-us/...
5. mailto:[email address]

EIR, Anglian Water Services Limited

Dear Mr Wright

 

Provision of requested information and readily accessible

 

Thank you for your request for information about discharges of untreated
effluent into the River Cam and its tributaries, which we received on 23
August 2022.  Your request has been considered under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.

 

I have responded to your request in purple.

 

You asked for a breakdown of untreated effluent into the river Cam and its
tributaries, including:

 

1. The number of occasions that these releases occur on an anual basis. 

 

The number of spills is available on our website for 2020 and 2021
[1]Combined sewer overflows (anglianwater.co.uk).  The 2019 data is
available on the Rivers Trust website here
[2]https://theriverstrust.org/sewage-map

 

2. The data on this for the last 10 years. 

 

There was a rolling obligation to collect the data from 2018.  CAMBRIDGE
WATER RECYCLING CENTRE and CAMBRIDGE RIVERSIDE 187 CSO had monitors from
2018 but there were no recorded spills.  For the sites with a later
obligation date the data is available on our website or on the Rivers
Trust website.

 

3. Locations of effluent discharge. 

 

Locations of our current and future monitoring points are included the
2021 data here
[3]https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/siteasset...
The Rivers Trust map also shows the locations on a map.

 

Background

 

Storm overflows play a vital role in our combined wastewater network
systems as they work like pressure release valves to protect homes and
businesses from flooding during periods of extreme rainfall. Because of
the job they do, and used properly, the majority of what comes out is
rainwater, not sewage. The Environment Agency issues permits for our storm
overflows.

 

Storm overflows were typically installed during the 1960’s and 1970’s,
well before the privatisation of the water industry. They were designed as
either combined sewer overflows from our network or settled storm
overflows at our wastewater treatment works. Sewers simply aren’t built
this way anymore, but they do have a role to play in protecting homes and
businesses.

 

We have a programme to install Event Duration Monitors (EDM) on our storm
overflows. These monitor for discharges and will improve visibility of
when storm overflows operate. Which in turn means we can identify which
are spilling more frequently and target future investment to overflows
where we will have the most environmental benefit. We are already seeing
benefit as there were fewer spills in 2020 than 2019, despite installing
almost 300 more monitors.

 

We publish our EDM data annually on our website [4]Combined sewer
overflows (anglianwater.co.uk) and share it with the Environment Agency
and the Rivers Trust [5]https://theriverstrust.org/sewage-map.  The Rivers
Trust also publish a map of all the locations on their website.

 

We remain committed to investigating storm overflows spilling a high
number of times and resolving any environmental impact they have, but know
they are just one contributor to river water quality. As is clear from
[6]Environment Agency river quality data and sample results
[7]https://environment.data.gov.uk/water-qu... there are
many contributing factors outside of water company control that
cumulatively have a more significant impact on the health of our
waterways.

 

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your
own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing, and for
the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use (for example, commercial
publication) would require the permission of the copyright holder.

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to request an internal review, you should write to:

 

Legal Director, Anglian Water Services, Lancaster House, Lancaster Way,
Ermine Business Park, Huntingdon  PE29 6XU

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

If you have any queries about this email, please contact the EIR team at
[8][email address]. 

Yours sincerely

 

EIR Team

Anglian Water Services Limited

Lancaster House, Lancaster Way, Ermine Business Park, Huntingdon,
Cambridgeshire PE29 6XU

Email  [9][email address]

 

--*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*---*----*-----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*---*----*-----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----
The information contained in this message is likely to be confidential and
may be legally privileged. The dissemination, distribution, copying or
disclosure of this message, or its contents, is strictly prohibited unless
authorised by Anglian Water. It is intended only for the person named as
addressee. Anglian Water cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy
or completeness of this message. Contracts cannot be concluded with us by
email or using the Internet. If you have received this message in error,
please immediately return it to the sender at the above address and delete
it from your computer. Anglian Water Services Limited Registered Office:
Lancaster House, Lancaster Way, Ermine Business Park, Huntingdon,
Cambridgeshire, PE29 6XU Registered in England No 2366656 Please consider
the environment before printing this
email.--*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*---*----*-----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*----*---*----*-----*----*----*----*----*----*

References

Visible links
1. https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/services/...
2. https://theriverstrust.org/sewage-map
3. https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/siteasset...
4. https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/services/...
5. https://theriverstrust.org/sewage-map
6. https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchmen...
7. https://environment.data.gov.uk/water-qu...
8. mailto:[email address]
9. mailto:[email address]

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Gareth Wright please sign in and let everyone know.