New Sarum Women's Institute, part of the National Federation of WIs,  believe that the water quality of Salisbury rivers should be safe for children to play in and safe for wildlife.

Currently Wessex Water discharge sewage into our rivers when the system cannot cope with heavy rainfall. This must stop.

Examples of sewage discharge affecting Salisbury’s rivers include:

Shrewton Water Recycling Centre, Salisbury Plain : In 2021, this sewer storm overflow spilled 184 times for a total of 4,269 hours, discharging into the River Till, which flows into the River Wylye. 

Hurdcott Wastewater Treatment, Salisbury: In 2021, this sewer storm overflow spilled 170 times for a total of 3,890 hours, discharging into the River Bourne, which flows into the River Avon. 

Hanging Langford Pumping Station, near Salisbury: In 2021, this sewer storm overflow spilled 337 times for a total of 1,014 hours, discharging into the River Wylye via a reed bed. 

Barford St Martin Water Recycling Centre, near Wilton : In 2021, this sewer storm overflow spilled 69 times for a total of 579 hours, discharging into the River Nadder. 

On their website Wessex Water are promising a “25% reduction in the number of hours of storm overflow discharges by 2025.” This is a start, but it’s not good enough.

We do not know whether our rivers are safe for children because the water quality is not adequately monitored. A nationwide health check of England’s water bodies which used to take place annually, will now take six years to complete. The assessments, undertaken by the Environment Agency, look at the ecological and chemical condition of rivers, lakes, groundwater, and transitional and coastal waters, and are required under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

In 2019, the last time the full assessments took place, just 14% of rivers in England were in good ecological health and none met standards for good chemical health. Before 2016 the tests were done annually, but the government has now opted not to deliver a complete update until 2025, the latest permissible under the WFD.

We demand that

• The Government acts to force water companies and other polluters to radically reduce their discharge into our rivers.

• The annual assessment of river water quality should be reinstated. The water quality should be monitored regularly by the Environment Agency and the results made public.

• Wessex Water expedite their promised increased investment in their infrastructure, in order to substantially reduce the amount of sewage discharged into our rivers.