An analysis of official figures shows that by 2023 sewage will be discharged an average of 86 times a day into rivers, lakes and beaches designated as “safe bathing”.

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) Incident Monitor – Storm Overflows, there were 31,373 sewage spills throughout the year, lasting a total of 228,098 hours.

This is an 80% increase from 2022, when the leak lasted 125,808 hours.

Lib Dem analysis of the data also revealed England’s worst bathing spots – which are supposed to be free of pollution and safe for swimming.

The party described it as “environmental damage” and warned families heading to water sources over the Easter weekend would be “shocked”.

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Why is sewage being discharged into our rivers?

Allonby in Cumbria was the area worst affected by sewage, with sewage overflowing for 4,500 hours last year.

This was followed by Haverigg, also in Cumbria and managed by United Utilities, which suffered a 3,500-hour leak.

Figures show last year’s Middleton offshore spill in West Sussex lasted 3,500 hours.

United Utilities, which supplies water to northwest England, was the worst offender overall, reportedly causing 10,467 sewage leaks in 2023.

This was followed by South West Water, with 8,500 leaks, and then Southern Water, Wessex Water and Thames Water, with the equivalent of 11,000 hours of leaks.

After the report is released Regarding E. coli levels The Oxford-Cambridge rowing race was spotted on the River Thames on Saturday.

A member of the Oxford team said several of his teammates suffered from diarrhea and vomiting before the game.

Athletes were asked not to swallow any water if possible, and the winning coxswain was not traditionally thrown overboard.

“Putting lives at risk”

Charles Watson, founder and chairman of Rivers Action UK, which collects E. coli data in the Thames, told Sky News: “It’s putting people’s lives at risk. Ever since what we’ve done around the boat race Since working, we’ve received dozens of messages, mainly from parents, about how children are getting very, very sick, with severe diarrhea and vomiting. “

When the system overflows from rain and heavy rainfall, sewage ends up in the bath water.

The UK’s sewerage system consists of pipes that carry rainwater and wastewater from people’s toilets, bathrooms and kitchens into the same pipes.

If there’s a lot of rainfall, pipes can become flooded and sewage can back up into people’s homes.

To reduce this risk, all raw sewage does not end up in water treatment plants, but some of it is pumped into the sea or rivers through storm overflows.

Lib Dem environment spokesman Tim Farron MP said: “The water companies must be laughing at us. These so-called protected sites are nothing like that. Instead, this Conservative government has declared it is now open for polluting companies to dump their filth into them season.

“This national scandal cannot continue.”

The party called for an urgent investigation by the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

A UK government spokesman said water companies were subject to “strict targets” on wastewater discharges.

They said: “We have made it clear that the amount of sewage being discharged into our waters is completely unacceptable and water companies need to clean up their act quickly.”

“We have taken tough action to hold them to account, including demanding record levels of rapid investment, ensuring 100% monitoring of storm overflows, quadruple inspections of water companies and we are currently consulting on proposals to ban water bosses .Bonuses are available when criminal violations occur.”

John Penicud, director of wastewater operations at Southern Water, said: “Reducing storm discharge volumes is a priority for us and our customers.

“The last 18 months have been the wettest on record. The ground in many areas has been completely flooded, flooding our sewers and our customers’ sewers and sewers.

“We are repairing our sewers at scale to stop sewage coming in and stormwater coming in, and our storm discharge reduction pilot scheme has proven that nature-based systems can have a real impact.”

Sky News has contacted Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Wessex Airways and Thames Water for comment.