Raw sewage dumped into Carlisle waters more than 1,500 times in 2022

Storm overflows normally happen when the sewage system is at risk of being overwhelmed – such as after a heavy rain, or during higher levels of groundwater.

In these cases, water companies may need to release excess water and sewage into rivers and the sea, to prevent water backing up into the streets and people's homes.

Environment agency figures show storm overflows were used 1,681 times within Carlisle's local authority boundaries in 2022, discharging for a total of around 7,968 hours.

Brian Wernham, the Lib Dem candidate for Carlisle, handed in a residents’ petition at the door of 10 Downing Street over the weekend against raw sewage outflows into local becks and rivers.

Brian Wernham handing the petition over at 10 Downing Street (Image: Supplied)Brian said: “The people of Carlisle are sick and tired of the lack of action by this Conservative government over the awful state of our rivers.

“The number of English rivers that meet ecological standards is now zero.  The River Eden is littered with floating sewage, condoms and tampons.

“We should be putting in large holding tanks to stop sewage outflows and treating the effluent to modern standards.”

Mr Wernham has called for water companies to be turned into community interest organisations ‘working for the public good’ but Carlisle Green Party candidate Gavin Hawkton has called for the water companies to be brought back into public ownership.

"The frequency of raw sewage releases into Carlisle's open waters is highly concerning as it poses a severe threat to our natural water sources and the ecosystems they support,” said Gavin.

Gavin Hawkton (Image: Supplied)"This is an inevitable consequence of privatisation which has prioritised shareholder payouts over investment in infrastructure.

"The obvious lesson here is that privatisation has failed, and it's now time to confront this failure head on and nationalise water companies.”

Water minister Rebecca Pow said the amount of sewage pumped into rivers is "utterly unacceptable", adding the Government has a plan to tackle pollution.

She said: "Targets set by the Government to reduce storm overflows are very strict and are leading to the largest infrastructure programme in water company history – £56 billion over the next 25 years.

"Shortly, water companies will also publish action plans for every storm overflow in England, something the Environment Secretary has personally pressed for," she said.

But the Labour candidate for Carlisle, Julie Minns, said the Conservatives ‘couldn’t be trusted’ with the environment.

Julie Minns (Image: Supplied)"Not content with letting our schools crumble, crime soar and hospital waiting lists spiral out of control, the Conservatives have let our rivers become open sewers,” said Julie.

“You just have to look at the decision to abandon the annual health check of England’s water bodies to know that the Tories cannot be trusted to look after our environment.

“Labour would ensure water companies pay for any failures from profits and not by increasing the bills of hard-pressed local residents.”

A United Utilities spokesperson said: “Storm overflows are designed to operate when sewers fill up during heavy rainfall in order to prevent homes and businesses from flooding.  

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“By the end of this year we will have completed installing monitoring devices at all storm overflow sites in our region.

“With the largest combined sewer network in the UK and highest levels of rainfall, we are planning the biggest programme of storm overflow reduction in the country to meet the new requirements of the Environment Act.

“Between now and 2030 we will have invested more than £3 billion to tackle the issue, with more to follow.”