All storm overflows now monitored

All storm overflows are now monitored, Defra and the Environment Agency have confirmed.

Water companies have met the target to fit Event Duration Monitors – measuring when and for how long a storm overflow is in operation – to 100% of outlets, up from 7% in 2010.

Water UK chief executive, David Henderson, said: “With 100% of the near 15,000 storm overflows across England now monitored we have the best, most comprehensive and accessible monitoring system in the world. This data will be invaluable in ensuring investment is targeted at those sites which urgently need improvements.”

Environment secretary Steve Barclay called the achievement a “major step forward in better protecting our precious waterways, as well as the communities and wildlife that rely on them.” He said: “The wealth of data collected from these monitors will ensure that we know the full extent to the problem – increasing transparency, revealing the worst-offending overflows, and enabling regulators to hold polluters to account.”