Experts have concluded that curbing indiscriminate disposal of waste such as wet wipes into wastewater systems offer cheap solutions to excessive sewer discharges. But, the researchers concluded that those measures are likely to be stymied by short-term thinking and self-interest in households and businesses.
In their report, in Environmental Pollution, researchers at Cardiff University suggest that campaigns to convince households to stop flushing wet wipes into the drains will fall foul of the same public torpor that continues to fuel global warming: “Changing social norms to alleviate combined sewer overflow (CSO) spills are unlikely to be effective in the short term, as has been seen with responses to climate change, where concern for others and self-interest have proven to be ill-equipped to motivate behavioural change.”
Elsewhere in the report the researchers concluded that there is inadequate evidence to provide a basis for assessing the risk to people and wildlife from sewer spills into rivers and coastal waters. Meanwhile, they reported that scientific study wrestles with public distaste to provide an informed assessment: “The fall-back prioritisation principles are likely to be based on considerations around existing data and knowledge, with some that are quantifiable and rational such as frequency and timing of spills or the Water Framework Directive status of the receiving water body, and others of a more subjective nature such as customer perception of visible litter.”
And the authors of the study show how the risks associated with swimming where wastewater has been released and other impacts are rarely obvious and dependent many moving parts: “every CSO spill is different. Lack of monitoring means that it is difficult to estimate the actual risk CSO spills may have on ecosystems and people.
“This review shows that evidence to inform risk assessment and new investment decisions is still scarce and that the complexity of the challenge requires systemic change.”
However, the researchers found that the same lack of data creates an obstacle to allocating investment: “Lack of knowledge and evidence on the actual risk and thus impact of CSO spills limits the capacity to properly prioritise investment in CSOs.”
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