Could climate change lead to sewerage problems?
Climate change is high on the agenda, as the world’s nations seek to understand the impact that mankind is having on the planet, and the ways in which change can be made – fast. Already, it’s noticeable that climate change is causing extremes of weather even here in the UK, from record heat temperatures to extreme storms and flash floods.
So, what does that mean to our pipework and sewer systems under the ground?
The risk of raw sewage discharge
MPs have been warned by climate groups that extreme weather will lead to greater levels of sewage discharge into the UK’s waterways and rivers. As a result, green groups want the government to invest in nature-based remedies that will direct investment in the coming years.
By 2050, it is expected that the UK’s sewerage system will have to handle a 55% growth in water flow, thanks to the reduction of natural surfaces and through growing urbanisation.
The problems of hard urban surfaces
These combined effects mean that more water is being passed into underground pipes and the flow must be slowed if the sewerage system is going to cope.
One other key factor is the increase in hard surfaces such as paved gardens and greater numbers of car parks. This increases the land mass of hard surfaces, which water cannot naturally drain into. Specialists that deliver CCTV drainage surveys Alcester, such as wilkinson-env.co.uk/drainage-services-cctv-surveys-midlands/cctv-drain-surveys/cctv-drain-surveys-alcester, are finding this situation across many of the sites that they serve.
No time to waste
Figures for 2020 show that water companies were discharging raw sewage into public rivers and waterways for over 3.1 million hours in a year, and on over 400,000 separate occasions. Ofwat and MPs have been warned that this situation will only get worse unless solutions are found rapidly.