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Comment by pasabagi | Hacker News Reader

Recent legislation allows waste treatment companies to pour raw sewage into british waterways - so I guess the seals/eels/salmon etc won't be sticking around for long...

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Waste companies have always done this. It happens when shared rainwater/sewage drains become overwhelmed in heavy rain and overflow into rivers.

The legislation isn't allowing something to happen that didn't happen before. There was a vote to ban it outright, which didn't pass. A watered-down (oh yeah) law was passed which allows the practice to continue but requires the water companies to work to prevent it.

In the event of emergencies where the other option is for it to flood the streets with sewage.

Billions are being spent to make sure that doesn't happen.

Hopefully the Tideway project will remove the need for that in London https://www.tideway.london/

Shame though for the rest of the country that might not necessarily be able to bankroll such a project.

where else in the country has victorian sewers built for a population density of 6825 per square kilometre vs 18457 people per square kilometre today?

My comment was more in reference to the fact that it is now legal for UK companies to dump raw sewage into the water. It means that the practice will likely proliferate to other less well funded regions.

You've got it back to front. The Labour Party introduced a completely impractical amendment which would have been impossible to pass into law, so that when the Conservatives voted it down they could use it to convince members of the public that the government want rivers filled with sewage. Classic opposition playbook.

What was the amendment? I would like to read about it.

"Only 22 Conservatives rebelled against the Government by voting for an opposition amendment to the Environment Bill, which would have forced a legal duty upon water companies not to pump sewage into waters.

...

'Initial assessments suggest that total elimination of discharges from storm overflows would cost anywhere between £150 billion and £650 billion.

This process could involve the complete separation of sewerage systems, leading to potentially significant disruption for homes, businesses and infrastructure across the country.'"

https://www.maldonandburnhamstandard.co.uk/news/19688229.joh...

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