Interactive map shows pollution caused by sewage spills across Liverpool and Merseyside

According to official data, sewage discharges have polluted every corner of England and Wales in the last year.

The water industry has been under widespread pressure from the public and the government to clean up its performance after recording almost 400,000 sewage dumping incidents in England and Wales in 2022, totalling to 3.3 million hours of pollution pouring into the country’s waterways.

Earlier this year Water UK, the industry regulator, apologised on behalf of companies for “not acting quickly enough” to tackle sewage spills and announced a multi-billion pound investment plan to upgrade the country’s crumbling Victorian sewage system.

But, how polluted have the waterways been in Merseyside?

Pollution in Merseyside: Wirral was the Merseyside area worst affected by discharges, with sewage pouring into its waterways for over 19,000 hours. At the other end of the scale was Knowsley, with 244 hours worth of dumping.

Birkenhead was Wirral’s worst affected town, with 666 sewage discharges, totalling 8,264 hours. Closely followed by Ellesmere Port and Neston which saw 654 discharges, totalling 2,145 hours and Wallasey experiencing 628 discharges, totalling 3,296 hours.

• In Knowsley, there were 130 sewage discharges, totalling 244 hours.
• In Liverpool, there were 569 sewage discharges, totalling 2,255 hours.
• In Sefton, there were 943 sewage discharges, totalling 2,194 hours.
• In St Helens, there were 1,092 sewage discharges, totalling 6,024 hours.
• In Wirral, there were 2,364 sewage discharges, totalling 19,454 hours.

The interactive map shows how many sewage discharges happened in your local area at a constituency level in 2022. The map below shows the total number of discharges and total number of hours sewage was poured into waterways in your local area. If you can’t see the map click here to view it in a new tab.

The next map shows local authority level figures.  If you can’t see the map click here to open it in a new tab.

Environmental campaigners at The Rivers Trust said it is “absolutely vital” that the data is published in a way that is accessible to the public. A spokesperson said: “Near real-time data on sewage discharges is the next key step in understanding pollution and how to stop it, so we were pleased when the water industry announced that it will be publishing that data this year. To us, it’s absolutely vital that the data is published in a way that is accessible to the public. We want to see it all in one place, and with enough detail for people to see what’s happening on their nearest river or watercourse.”