We urge the government to review the regulations for new sewage treatment infrastructure and introduce new legislation to ensure high international standards are met; to safeguard people’s health, better protect all water bodies and reduce damaging long term impacts.

All new wastewater infrastructure must be built to well-established, higher international standards, in line with the revised EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) standards in force since 1 January 2025, to significantly reduce the pollution load on water bodies. Proposed new schemes built to outdated standards must be stopped as they will continue releasing biological and chemical contaminants, including forever chemicals, harming water bodies, wildlife, and public health. They also risk a dramatic increase in customer water bills to pay for expensive and avoidable upgrades.