The government has released a plan to cut down on sewage pollution in our rivers

People have been told to avoid going into the water at beaches around the UK including Cornwall

The government has shared a new plan to cut down on the amount of sewage released into our rivers and the sea.

This is after pollution warnings were put in place on around 50 beaches last week.

Heavy rainfall meant that water companies have been releasing untreated sewage - waste water from things like toilets and baths, that has not been cleaned - into rivers in England, though things like overflowing storm drains.

What is the government's new plan?

The government announced that water companies will need to spend around £56 billion over the next 25 years improving their systems.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said: "Between now and 2025, water companies will be investing £3 billion in order to reduce the use of storm overflows by 25%."

Mr Eustice said it was "regrettable" that the issue had not been fixed in the last 40 or 50 years.

He also said that as a result of the new plan, there would be a "modest increase" to water bills over time, but that it would be a "price people would be willing to pay".

"There will be no change to water bills until at least 2025, and between then and 2030, the average annual rise in water bills will be about £12." he said.

Politicians from the Liberal Democrats party have criticised the government's new plan, saying that consumers would pay for "the mess made by water companies".

Why is sewage being pumped into the sea?

The UK has recently experienced very hot, dry weather which led the government to declare droughts in some parts.

However, southern England has seen heavy rainfall following the heatwave.

Weather like this can put pressure on sewage systems because of the high volumes of rainwater running into drains and into the sewer system.

Sewers are designed to release sewage - made up of things like poo and wee - into rivers, or the sea, at times of heavy rainfall or snow melt to prevent it backing up and coming out into homes and streets.

Sewage can be discharged into rivers when sewers become overwhelmed

Although these discharges, which are also known as storm overflows, are legal there are concerns they are happening more often than they should be.

"There were thunderstorms accompanied by heavy rain the night before last and yesterday [Tuesday]. Storm releases were made to protect homes, schools and businesses from flooding. The release is 95-97% rainwater and so should not be described as raw sewage," Southern Water said in a statement.

"We know customers do not like that the industry has to rely on these [discharges] to protect them, and we are pioneering a new approach."

What about the environment?

Sewage being discharged into seas and rivers has also raised concerns about the impact on marine life and the environment.

In a statement, the Environment Agency (EA) said that sewage pollution could be "devastating to human health, local biodiversity and our environment". It said it would not "hesitate to act to eliminate the harm sewage discharges cause to the environment".

The EA has previously called for those in charge of England's water companies to face big consequences when serious cases of pollution take place.

There are concerns about how pollution could impact marine life

"Our rivers and beaches are once again being treated as open sewers. Years of underinvestment is now in plain sight," said Hugo Tagholm who is the chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage.

The legal rules on water companies, set by a European Court of Justice Ruling in 2012, was for discharges to only happen in very rare "exceptional circumstances."

Have there been other incidents like this?

Sewage being discharged into rivers or the sea is only meant to happen in exceptional cases. However, data published by the Environment Agency showed there were more than 400,000 incidents in 2020, and more than 372,000 in 2021.

In December last year, people were advised not to swim in Windermere and to prevent their dogs going into the water due to a significant increase in pollution levels.

Once again, this was down to raw sewage being pumped into the lake after storms and heavy rainfall placed pressure on the sewers.