BARNSLEY Central MP Dan Jarvis called on the government to clean up the water system this week.
Earlier this month, statistics released by the Environment Agency revealed the shocking amount of raw sewage released into rivers across the borough in 2022.
Yorkshire Water release sewage when there is too much demand on their treatment works during rainy periods.
Sewage was pumped into Barnsley’s waterways for more than 13,000 hours last year.
Dan said: “When Parliament debated sewage during ‘The Great Stink’ of 1858, the Victorians knew they had to do something.
“Now, 165 years on, it beggars belief that we’re still debating sewage polluting our waterways.
“Water is not just another commodity, it’s a vital public resource.
“The task to reform the water industry, is huge, and we have to get it right.
“This is not some operational issue solved by small tweaks to the failing system.
“It’s a systemic problem requiring transformative action.
“It is past time we started managing our public resources not for private profit, but for the public good.”
