Pollutants that survive treatment are discharged into rivers, lakes and seas as \u201ctreated effluent\u201d, while those captured in sewage sludge are spread on farmland as fertiliser. The waste also adds to the overloading of sewer networks that triggers raw sewage spills<\/a>, which have caused outrage, community protests and calls for the industry to be nationalised so that profits can be reinvested in improving the system rather than going to shareholders.<\/p>\n United Utilities made the most revenue from industrial waste last year, at \u00a361.6m, followed by Yorkshire Water at \u00a348.8m. However, these companies included revenues from tankered waste in their figures, while some others did not. D\u0175r Cymru Welsh Water, Scottish Water and Wessex Water said they routed commercial tankered waste through separate companies within their groups.<\/p>\n Chart showing UK water companies\u2019 earnings through \u2018trade-effluent consents\u2019 by financial year from 2020-21 to 2025-26<\/a><\/p>\n Thames Water has the largest volume of permitted industrial sewage, at 113bn litres, followed by United Utilities at 105bn litres and Severn Trent Water at 79bn litres.<\/p>\n Chart showing amount of industrial and commercial sewage taken in by UK water companies each year<\/a><\/p>\n Across the sector, revenues from receiving industrial and commercial wastewater have risen sharply in five years, with Anglian Water\u2019s increasing by 62%.<\/p>\n The industry expert said water companies had \u201ca financial incentive to accept far more toxic material than they should\u201d.<\/p>\n The permit regime was very old and not fit for purpose, they added. \u201cCurrently the Environment Agency<\/a> doesn\u2019t know exactly how much of this waste is going into waterworks each year.\u201d<\/p>\n Waste handlers also drive tankers carrying industrial effluents, landfill leachate and other liquid wastes to sewage works. An Environment Agency (EA) officer said landfill leachate was its \u201cgreatest concern\u201d because of the harmful chemical cocktail it can contain.<\/p>\n Both the officer and the industry expert identified Davyhulme wastewater treatment works in Manchester, operated by United Utilities<\/a>, and Avonmouth, operated by Wessex Water, as big receivers of tankered waste. \u201cCarriers will drive [long distances] to dispose of their wastes here \u2026 You can see lines of tankers queueing outside Avonmouth,\u201d the expert said.<\/p>\n Checks by water companies across the sector can involve taking a sample and carrying out basic pH tests, but these do not identify most contaminants, \u201cand by the time you\u2019ve identified [that] it had something nasty in it, it\u2019s already gone\u201d, the EA officer added.<\/p>\n But \u201cignorance is no defence\u201d, said the officer. \u201cThey should be seeking sufficient information from the producer of that waste to satisfy themselves so they can treat it properly.\u201d<\/p>\n The industry expert said the UK needed a dedicated liquid-waste treatment sector rather than relying on a \u201cdilute and disperse\u201d model.<\/p>\n
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