The extreme rain has seen a return of sewage discharges into the River Ver.
St Albans, like many other parts of the country, saw a vast amount of rain in late September and early October, which worked to overwhelm the Markyate sewage treatment works.
The Ver Valley Society explained that when the treatment plant’s capacity of water is exceeded, the raw sewage is discharged into the chalk stream.
Speaking to St Albans News, chair of the Ver Valley Society John Pritchard said: “The sewage works is designed to discharge the sewage in the event of heavy rain because they cannot cope with the amount of water for long. It needs to have the capacity to deal with bigger wet periods before it spills.”
John revealed that so far this year, 2,660 hours worth of sewage has been put in the river.
The inadequacy of the Markyate plant is not a new phenomenon. The society passed on a quote from a local resident, Mr Timberlake, from 1987. It reads: “Nowadays there is a lot of pollution from Markyate sewage treatment works; on misty mornings the smell along the river is terrible and the banks are white with deposit. I walk this stretch every morning and no longer see the voles, water-rate or moorhens and kingfishers that I used to see.”
The group is also taking part in the March for Clean Water in London Sunday, November 3, demanding government action.
Speaking to St Albans News, Daisy Cooper, MP for St Albans, said: “Sewage dumping in our precious chalk streams is an ecological disaster and a national scandal.
“The government’s Water Bill is welcome but only a job half done: we Liberal Democrats continue to call for an outright ban on water bosses bonuses, for the useless regulator to be scrapped and replaced, and for water bills to be capped, until sewage dumping stops.
“And my message to Thames Water is clear: stopping sewage dumping in our ecologically rich chalk streams should be your number one priority.”
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