Northumbrian Water discharged sewage into rivers 27,000 times

The figures show there were 27,352 recorded discharges from storm overflows during the year, lasting a combined 123,521 hours.

The data has prompted GMB to call for workers to be given representation on the board of the Government’s proposed new water regulator, which is set to replace Ofwat.

A waste water pipe on the beach (Image: PA MEDIA)

Delegates at the union’s annual congress debated a motion on Monday (June 8), calling for “a permanent worker seat on the board to safeguard from future failures”.

Water campaigner and former Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey addressed delegates in support of the motion.

Speaking at the conference, Mr Sharkey criticised the privatised water industry and regulation of the sector.

“The brutal reality is as employees, bill payers, as customers, we have been lied to, we’ve been misled, we’re being extorted, we’ve been cheated,” he said.

“For 37 years, we’ve been subjected to nothing more than the greatest act of organised criminality perpetrated against the British people.”

He added: “We’ve had little in return apart from corporate greed, profiteering, financial engineering, political failure and regulatory incompetence.”

Water coming from a pipe into the river (Image: PA MEDIA)

However, Northumbrian Water said the figures relate to permitted storm overflow discharges, which are designed to operate during periods of heavy rainfall to prevent homes, businesses and infrastructure from flooding.

A spokesperson said: “We share our customers and communities’ passion for having clean waterways, and we understand that reducing the use of storm overflows is one of the most important things we can do.

“Between 2025 and 2030, we are investing £1.7 billion in environmental improvements, which will help reduce the number of spills from storm overflows and enhance water quality across our coasts and rivers.

“Data for 2025 shows that spills from our storm overflows have decreased by 32 per cent over the past year, and this is partly due to investment in infrastructure and trials of our world-leading Smart Sewers project, which uses AI to predict rainfall and reduce the reliance on storm overflows.”

Storm overflows are permitted by the Environment Agency to discharge excess water during periods of heavy rainfall when sewer systems risk becoming overwhelmed.

The discharges are typically heavily diluted with rainwater and are intended to protect properties and sewage treatment works from flooding.

The Government announced earlier this year that Ofwat would be abolished and replaced by a new water sector regulator, although details of its structure and governance have yet to be confirmed.