Sewage Discharges Into Welland ‘Deeply Concerning’

Untreated sewage poured into the River Welland in Market Harborough for over 1,300 hours last year.

There were 116 separate discharges into the watercourse during 2024, lasting for 1,320 hours – the equivalent of 54 days continuously.

In 2023 there were 117 discharges lasting a total of 1,350 hours.

Cllr Phil Knowles, leader of Harborough District Council has described the figures as ‘deeply concerning’:

Sewage debris left on the bank of the River Welland in Market Harborough last week

Water companies can allow untreated sewage to discharge into rivers during intense rainfall to stop sewers backing up.

The new figures have been released just days after sewage entered the river off Rockingham Road, following a short period of heavy rain, leaving debris on the riverbank.

Wildlife enthusiast Don West was one of the volunteers who cleaned up the area and wants action to deal with the issue:

Sewage debris left on the bank of the River Welland in Market Harborough last week

The latest data has been released by the Environment Agency, which monitors three points along the river through the town where sewage can enter the water.

Anglian Water – which is responsible for waste water in the Market Harborough area – has apologised and says it is investing around £26m into its water recycling centres serving the town to reduce storm overflows.

A spokesperson said: “We know our assets need to be resilient to changing weather patterns.

“We also understand the strength of feeling around storm spills, and having apologised, we have promised transformational action – because we know our climate is going to keep changing, so we have to find better ways of dealing with extreme rainfall.

“Our next five-year business plan builds at pace on the work we’ve already started. It contains our largest ever investment  – £1bn – into tackling storm spills, and £11bn overall to improve our performance.

“We’ve prioritised this work to deliver the biggest benefits first, because we recognise and share the desire of customers to get on with addressing this issue.”