10/11/09
The water industry in England and Wales has again reduced its impact on the environment, according to figures released by the Environment Agency.
Serious pollution incidents caused by water and sewerage companies fell by a third in 2008, and by 60% in the last four years, the agency reports.
One of the companies' core priorities is to manage society's wastewater while protecting and enhancing the environment, so that any incident is one too many.
However such a sustained reduction is evidence of both a e commitment to improve and an ability to learn from experience.
The scale of the service provided to people in England and Wales by water and sewerage companies can to some extent be understood in the following numbers:
• 53 million - population served
• 13 billion - litres of wastewater collected, treated and returned safely to the environment each day
• 320,000 - length of sewers (kilometres)
• 6,300 - wastewater treatment works.
For more information please contact:
Water UK Communication
020 7344 1809 (out of hours 07833 450544)
