Storm Discharges more than double at Ashbourne Sewage Works

Figures published in the last few days show that Ashbourne Sewage Treatment works, run by Severn Trent Water, ‘storm discharged’ into Bentley Brook for a total of 638 hours during 2025. This is equivalent to over 26 days of continuous discharge and is a 160% increase on the figures for 2024.

The ‘reason’ given is ‘hydraulic capacity’ which is just another way of saying that the works cannot cope with the volume of sewage that it is receiving.

With the Bentley Brook receiving untreated sewage for, on average, one whole day a fortnight, it is clear that STW urgently need to increase the capacity of Ashbourne Sewage Works.

How the works will cope when the additional homes that developers hope to build in Ashbourne remains to be seen.

It is noted that the outgoing CEO, Liz Garfield, received a salary of £3.2 million in her final year with the company.