On Monday MPs will decide between two amendments to the Environment Bill. Their decision will shape the future of water quality in England.

The wording to the Duke of Wellington's amendment, supported twice by the House of Lords, was already known but the government finally announced their alternative on Friday evening.

As expected, it falls well short of what is required. If only they could water down the sewage as much as they have watered down this amendment!

The Duke's amendment, which this petition supports, asks for;

"A duty on sewerage undertakers to take all reasonable steps to ensure untreated sewage is not discharged from storm overflows into inland and coastal waters.

A sewerage undertaker must, as soon as reasonable, take such steps as are necessary to demonstrate improvement in the performance of sewerage systems"

It is clear and simple. Water companies must not release sewage unless necessary and must finally invest in the sewage network

The government alternative, asks for;

"A sewerage undertaker whose area is wholly or mainly in England must
secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impact of discharges from
the undertaker’s storm overflows.

...reducing adverse impacts on the environment, and reducing adverse impacts on public health."

The fundamental difference is that the Duke's amendment forces water companies to reduce CSO (sewage) releases, the government's only asks them to mitigate the impact.

This could mean pumping the sewage further out to sea. Or perhaps releasing chemicals into the water to treat the sewage once it is already out there. It does NOT force water companies to improve the network, which is the only course of action that will solve this issue.

Publishing this amendment late on a Friday night is a cynical and shameful attempt to avoid public and media scrutiny over the weekend and leaves campaigners just two days to argue the case against.

Please, if you haven't already, take 5 minutes this weekend to...

WRITE TO YOUR MP and ask them to vote for the Duke of Wellington's amendment to the Environment Bill and not the government's watered down alternative.

RETWEET THE PINNED TWEET on the @SOSWhitstable Twitter feed which has environmental journalists and campaigners tagged and will help us gain vital coverage of the issue over the weekend.

I apologise for the recent bombardment of updates on this issue but this truly is our last chance to win. I'll update you with the result on Monday.

Ed