In addition to recommending that Britons consider drinking reprocessed sewage water, Sir James asserts that we should “transform the way they think about water” and “see it as a valuable resource, not a free good.”
The head of the Environment Agency has stated that Britons should be “less squeamish” about drinking reprocessed sewage water and cease seeing the resource as a “free good.”
In recent weeks, water firms have been accused of discharging sewage into rivers and the ocean, prompting worries about tainted water.
There are rising calls to deprive water company executives of their multimillion-pound bonuses in response to the uproar over the amount of sewage poured into the ocean.
Sir James Bevan, head of the Environment Agency, wrote in The Sunday Times that consumers in the United Kingdom should be “less squeamish” about drinking water that has been previously mixed with sewage since water providers seek to recycle water directly from flushed toilets.
This form of water, according to Sir James, is safe and wholesome, but few people enjoy it.
He stated that we need “transform how people view water” and “treat it as a valuable resource, not a free product.”
“We must remember where it comes from,” he wrote. “When we turn on the faucet, what comes out originated in a river, lake, or aquifer.”
“The more we use these resources, the more we deplete them and strain nature and wildlife.
“If we are to reach our destination, we must all adopt a new way of thinking. Some of these actions will be controversial, thus the political will of future administrations will be required.”
Sir James’s remarks came after an investigation by Channel 4 News revealed that more than 870 water lines in the United Kingdom may be illegally dumping sewage.
The station reported that more than 200 of these had been confirmed in use by water companies.
The Environment Agency stated on the program, “Water providers have been justifiably criticized for allowing far too many sewage spills, and we are making the industry accountable on a scale never before seen.”
The Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Department added: “We are the first government to implement measures to combat sewage overflows. We have made it plain that water providers’ reliance on overflows is unacceptable, and that they must immediately limit the quantity of sewage they release.
“This is in addition to the aggressive measures we have already taken, such as establishing targets to improve water quality, which will serve as a potent tool to deliver cleaner water by compelling all water companies to go further and more quickly to rectify overflows.”
