AdvertisementThe population in the region served by Southern Water, for example, has increased by 30% during the last 20 years.
An additional factor behind increased spills, as Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, has pointed out, is that so many Britons have concreted over their gardens. That latter factor, as with droughts, has left more water flowing off hard surfaces and into sewers during times of heavy rain rather than being absorbed into the ground.The River Great Ouse at Brackley in Northamptonshire.
According to Ms Kelly, the majority of it will come in the first instance from water industry shareholders, who are being asked to put down"a huge down-payment".The existing plan to cut sewage spills is likely to add something between £12 and £30 to the existing annual household bill of £448 by 2030.
Critics of the industry will argue that it is wrong for customers to be paying anything when the water companies paid more than £1bn in dividends to shareholders last year.