Our rivers are currently the healthiest they have been since the Industrial Revolution. We are proud that we have been consistently recognised as a leading UK water company and awarded the very highest 4-star status by the Environment Agency because of the care we take with our rivers and the environment.
Recently there has been debate in the media about the role that water companies play in protecting rivers and how we use ‘storm overflows’.
Protecting our rivers
We are investing over £100m a year to protect our rivers and to enable nature to thrive. This includes:
By 2025 we will have restored 4,000km of rivers in our region.
Being the first water company to create bathing rivers in the UK along both the River Leam and the River Teme, 49km will be in place by 2025.
We’ve recruited a team of river rangers to help educate communities and monitor rivers keeping them healthy and thriving.
Planting 1.3m trees to help improve the environment through our Great Big Nature Boost.
Working with our partners to reintroduce beavers into our rivers in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Reintroducing water voles back to nature in Shropshire and creating habitats for other small mammals, reptiles as well as birds such as kingfishers and sand martins.
Facts about river health
Here’s some facts about river health and our use of overflows, which the drainage in our region relies on.
We’re passionate about river quality which is why we consistently support the Government’s Environment Bill.
The Government’s 25-year Environment Plan outlines a to do list for all sectors that impact on river quality.
Assuming everyone, across all sectors, successfully delivers the work on their to do list, rivers will reach ecologically Good Status.
We’re committing to complete our actions in a 9-year time frame, rather than the 25-year target.
Agriculture is the biggest polluter for rivers, and although we aren’t responsible for their actions, we want to take a leading role in helping farmers to care for rivers which is why we are working with 9,000 farmers.
In the last 12 months alone, the latest Environment Agency data for our region shows our contribution to river pollution is down by 9.4% as we seek to deliver our 2030 target.
24% of the role in keeping our rivers healthy is in the control of the water sector; 76% is not.
Agriculture is the largest polluter. It is responsible for 36% of rivers not achieving ecologically Good Status. That's why we are working with over 9,000 farmers to reduce the use of pesticides and other run off that harms nature.
Facts about storm overflows
The use of storm overflows, which have recently been debated in parliament and in the media, only account for 3% of rivers not achieving ecologically good status. We invest every year to bring that 3% down even further and it will be 0% by 2030.
Storm overflows can date back to the Victorian era and are used during periods of intense or prolonged rainfall, as storm water can overwhelm sewers.
Overflows work by redirecting water, which is predominantly all rainwater from highway drains which are operated by County Councils and the Highway Agency or from roofs or driveways, to a nearby water course to protect communities, houses and businesses from flooding.
There are 90,000km of sewers across Severn Trent and we have 2,637 storm overflows. Last year we had more monitors set up than any other water company, to monitor overflows.
Overflows are crucial to avoid flooding in homes and businesses but we are working hard to use them less.
The water discharged by storm overflows is predominantly rainwater.
Storm overflows have agreed regulatory permits.
We’ve already spent £355m improving storm overflows and we’re investing another £200m in our sewer network between 2020
and 2025.
Across our system we have more monitors installed so that we can spot any problems quickly.
Investing to protect communities from flooding and restoring nature
We are investing a whopping £566m over the next three years on a range of projects including nature-based solutions that will improve river quality, protect homes, businesses and communities from flooding and enable nature to thrive.
We are creating urban wetlands and new, green basins that will allow water to drain away naturally. We are campaigning for new housing developments to focus on water recycling, sustainable urban drainage, and permeable pavements.
We’re also running the biggest sewer blockages prevention and detection programme we have ever undertaken. This will help reduce pressure on the sewers and we are also investing in the installation of over 40,000 sewer sensors which can alert us to possible future issues.
How you can help to protect our rivers and communities
Blocked drains are one of the most common causes of river pollution and can cause wastewater to back up and even overflow.
Sewer blockages happen when things like wet wipes and sanitary products are flushed down the loo and leftover cooking fats and oils get poured down the sink.
These blockages are messy, unpleasant and contribute to sewer flooding.
You can help prevent sewer blockages by always putting wet wipes, sanitary products, leftover fats and oils in the bin.
We are also asking local authorities to make sure new developments are ‘Water Positive’, and they capture and re-use rainwater instead of letting it swamp the sewage network.