Sewage tanker rise causes stink among village families after increased use ... trends now
Increased usage of unsightly sewage tankers across English towns are villages has led to noise complaints from locals.
Water firms pumped a record 3.6million hours of sewage into rivers and seas in England last year, than double than in 2022.
To plug some of the gaps in sewage capacity, the companies have been forced to send in noisy and polluting tankers into rural England for as long as several months.
The tankers are used to transport untreated sewage from plants which have been overwhelmed to ones which have high capacity to process the wastewater.
They are also used to transport 'sludge' and are also brought in during emergencies such as when a sewer burst in Exmouth, Exeter before New Year's Eve, resulting in 240 tanker-loads of sewage being driven from the town in East Devon each day by South West Water as the burst pipes were repaired.
Increased usage of unsightly sewage tankers across English towns are villages has led to noise complaints from locals (file photo of a sewage tanker in Cookham, Berkshire)
Water firms pumped a record 3.6million hours of sewage into rivers and seas in England last year, than double than in 2022
Some of the water companies in England are increasing their use of these sewage tankers, according to data released by the firms to The Times.
South West Water reportedly now has 35 sewage tankers, a rise of more than half compared to nine years ago.
The sharp increase usage of these tankers over the last few years has caused 'considerable damage to roads and inconvenience to residents,' in Exmouth, campaigner for End Sewage Convoys And Poollution Exmouth, Andy Tyerman told The Times.
In Norfolk and Suffolk, Anglian Water used sewage tankers as many as 103 times a day in 2023 - the most since they started keeping records in 2015.
On average, the firm carried sewage in tankers a record 48 times every day last year, according to the data seen by The Times.
Co-founder of the Gaywood River Revival group Mark Dye, from Grimston, Norfolk, told The Times that tankers are being used 'long-term' by Anglian Water and the people in the area have 'had enough of their
