HC Deb 03 March 1959 vol 601 cc180-2
10. Mr. Beswick

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs what experiments are taking place in this country in the treatment and disposal of sewage by new methods, including the sonic vibration method now installed at works near Cologne.

Mr. Bevins

Experiments are constantly in progress at the Water Pollution Research Laboratory and at sewage disposal works. One authority has had tests carried out in connection with the sonic vibration method. The results are not yet available.

Mr. Beswick

Will not the Parliamentary Secretary agree that we are faced with a very real and growing problem in the disposal of sewage? Does he agree that we should do everything possible to devise some means of dealing with sewage, instead of simply putting it into the rivers? Can he say whether his Department accepts any national responsibility for trying out these methods, apart from the laboratory work, or are we leaving it to the different sewerage boards?

Mr. Bevins

This is primarily a matter for the local sewerage boards. My right hon. Friend accepts an overall national responsibility. That is why I say that work is constantly being carried out at the Water Pollution Research Laboratory. The hon. Gentleman might also like to know that the method referred to in his Question has been the subject of tests carried out for Bracknell Development Corporation and that the Derby County Borough has recently applied for approval to instal this sort of installation. We are considering the application favourably.

Mr. Beswick

Is there any possibility of applying this or other methods on a wide scale? Can we get beyond the laboratory scale?

Mr. Bevins

So far, this experiment is being carried out for a local authority in the Ruhr in Germany, which has a population of about 20,000. The trouble at the moment is that it is not yet established, either in Germany or this country, that it would be effective in a large city.

11. Mr. Beswick

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he is aware that the sludge disposal at the Maple Cross works is now out of control and that the matter is one of urgency; and what action he proposes to take in these circumstances to expedite the construction of works already planned and the further expansion which is now needed.

Mr. Bevins

I think it is going too far to say that the matter is out of control, though I agree that serious difficulty is being experienced. A public inquiry into the Colne Valley Sewerage Board's proposals has been provisionally fixed for 7th April.

Mr. Beswick

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that the words I use in the Question are taken from a report by the Clerk of the Collie Valley Sewerage Board, in which he says that sludge disposal is out of control? Moreover, he threatens that, unless some help is given, he will simply open the sluice gates and let the whole of the sludge go untreated down the river. In those circumstances, is it not a most serious situation which faces us? Can the Parliamentary Secretary tell the House when we are likely to have extensions to the work, other than those that are proposed simply to cope with the increased sewage that has to be dealt with?

Mr. Bevins

I agree entirely that the existing plant has failed badly. This is a very serious local problem. The public inquiry has been brought forward to an early date in April. I assure the hon. Gentleman that, once that Report is in, it will be considered as a matter of extreme urgency.

Mr. Ronald Bell

Does my hon. Friend know that, as an alternative to letting the sludge run down the river, the sewerage board is proposing to dump it on my constituency? Will he ensure that the board installs some proper machinery at its works in order to avoid recourse to either of these highly objectionable expedients?

Mr. Bevins

We will consider what my hon. Friend has said.