The most UK thing ever: fined for pouring coffee down a drain

This reminds me of stories that pop up every now and then such as rubbish blowing away as someone tries to put in a bin, the people fined are generally older or easier targets than the groups of youths throwing stuff on the ground outside of fast food places etc. It annoys me more as they are being selective and add in this case petty as well.
 
Isn't that the thing - it's different systems (storm vs sewers), one of which goes into the environment and the other goes to a processing "plant"?
It's not here. My kitchen sink goes into the same drain as the road ones.
Pretty sure storm drains aren’t treated the way household waste water is.
How do you think sewage ends up being ejected into the sea after heavy rain? It's the same system in many areas.
 
It's not here. My kitchen sink goes into the same drain as the road ones.

How do you think sewage ends up being ejected into the sea after heavy rain? It's the same system in many areas.
Generally, household drainage and storm drains are separate systems. Would be pretty dumb to treat rainwater.

Yes sewage does end up in the sea after heavy rain, apparently it's a price worth paying for shareholder dividends.
 
Generally, household drainage and storm drains are separate systems. Would be pretty dumb to treat rainwater.

Yes sewage does end up in the sea after heavy rain, apparently it's a price worth paying for shareholder dividends.
The UK has many victorian combined sewers that mix rainwater and waste water. This is the primary reason why it gets overloaded during heavy rain.. nothing to do with shareholders.
 
The UK has many victorian combined sewers that mix rainwater and waste water. This is the primary reason why it gets overloaded during heavy rain.. nothing to do with shareholders.
I would suggest that the fact we are relying on Victorian sewerage that results in sewage spewing into watercourses and the sea, is everything to do with the tens of billions of pounds that have been extracted from our water utility infrastructure in the past few decades to pay shareholder dividends.
 
I would suggest that the fact we are relying on Victorian sewerage that results in sewage spewing into watercourses and the sea, is everything to do with the tens of billions of pounds that have been extracted from our water utility infrastructure in the past few decades to pay shareholder dividends.
Then you'd be wrong. You are talking about changing the sewer systems in every major town and city in the UK. That doesnt cost a few tens of billions, that costs a lot more. You would need much higher bills if you wanted to do that (the regulator kept bills low).
 
Then you'd be wrong. You are talking about changing the sewer systems in every major town and city in the UK. That doesnt cost a few tens of billions, that costs a lot more. You would need much higher bills if you wanted to do that (the regulator kept bills low).
Not quite sure what planet you’re living on, but you enjoy it :)
 
Not quite sure what planet you’re living on, but you enjoy it :)
Well considering your previous comments its quite clear you have no idea how or why a lot of the UK sewer system works like it does. If you cant look at it objectively and say yes, while the private model is a poor one its not the main nor only reason why sewage ends up in UK waterways i'll discount your opinon, on whichever planet you formed it ;)
 
Would be pretty dumb to treat rainwater.

It's not just rainwater though, is it?

It's tyre & brake dust (plus whatever other vehicle related pollution), animal excrement, rotting animals, paint, stone/brick dust, and many countless other sources of contamination.

A few ml of coffee pales into utter insignificance compared to that
 
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I saw this on the news and thought April fools joke.. then realised ... nope UK and the never ending big brother tactics and no logic applied ..

Happy to hear common sense won out in the end.. What a stupid thing to have even happened and the never ending greed in how to criminalise everything that was normal and now become a fine or some other punishment.
 
This reminds me of stories that pop up every now and then such as rubbish blowing away as someone tries to put in a bin, the people fined are generally older or easier targets than the groups of youths throwing stuff on the ground outside of fast food places etc. It annoys me more as they are being selective and add in this case petty as well.

Exactly.. this is all they do is target the vulnerable or OAP.. The never ending youth rubbish and antisocial behaviour is always ignored. :mad:
 
I get the principle.. Littering. But this is ridiculous. In a world where police rarely come out for kids roaring around in unrestricted ebikes and scooters, this is not a good look.
 
Not only is the volume not likely to do that, is even a full cup of coffee never mind a tiny bit of one, going to “pollute”?

Considering what gets washed down drains, is some consumer coffee going to do anything.
ahh you see your not thinking of people like me with a sensetivity to caffein!!!
its people like her pouring coffee down the drain that has completely ruined my hobby of
walking around town with a long straw regularly randomly tasting the sewerage!!!
now i live in constant fear that im one sewerage tasting session away from a serious
caffein induced anxiety attack!!!
think of the poor sewerage tasters!
also the company that makes the extra long sewerage straws are now going out
of business as us sewerage tasters cant safely indulge in our preferred hobby anymore
 
I get the principle.. Littering. But this is ridiculous. In a world where police rarely come out for kids roaring around in unrestricted ebikes and scooters, this is not a good look.

Exactly.. this is what annoys me as there are more important things they could be dealing with than such things, but of course they don't :mad: .
 
Isn't that the thing - it's different systems (storm vs sewers), one of which goes into the environment and the other goes to a processing "plant"?
whats worse discharging raw sewage into rivers and onto beaches or pouring a cup of coffee down the drain?
we don;t seem to fine the water companies anymore, anyone arguing the woman should be fined for a cup of coffee when its 99% water is using absurd logic




won't someone think of the coffee, the coffee cup is the problem
 
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Isn't that the thing - it's different systems (storm vs sewers), one of which goes into the environment and the other goes to a processing "plant"?
We call it a treatment works, and no they're often not separate.

Pretty sure storm drains aren’t treated the way household waste water is.
Depends on the catchment area. Many public storm drains feed into foul drains, after which they are treated.

It's not here. My kitchen sink goes into the same drain as the road ones.
And where does it go once it hits the public network?

I would suggest that the fact we are relying on Victorian sewerage that results in sewage spewing into watercourses and the sea, is everything to do with the tens of billions of pounds that have been extracted from our water utility infrastructure in the past few decades to pay shareholder dividends.
No, it's to do with the estimated £660 billion it'd cost to remove the overflows, and the fact that you'd be rather upset if your bills went up to cover this cost.
Also, these aren't just Victorian sewer overflows, as they were laid as recently as the 1970s.
 
Exactly.. this is what annoys me as there are more important things they could be dealing with than such things, but of course they don't :mad: .
I get the principle.. Littering. But this is ridiculous. In a world where police rarely come out for kids roaring around in unrestricted ebikes and scooters, this is not a good look.

It wasn’t the police. It was a private for profit company employed by the council who earn money by giving out fines. They couldn’t deal with a 12 year old shop lifter never mind roadmen on e bikes.
 
r4pm this evening had an article on this - apparently nationwide councils pay annual 1bn for littering/fly-tipping cleanup - a quarter of those immigration costs,
councils that fine people if they aren't carrying bags for cleaning up after their dog was one of the infractions mentioned.
 
r4pm this evening had an article on this - apparently nationwide councils pay annual 1bn for littering/fly-tipping cleanup - a quarter of those immigration costs,
councils that fine people if they aren't carrying bags for cleaning up after their dog was one of the infractions mentioned.

Yup, that seems entirely reasonable, nobody wants to stand in dog ****, and anyone who doesn't clean up after their dog is subhuman scum who deserves to have all their fingers broken and eyeballs surgically removed with a rusty spoon.

However that's an entirely different thing from pouring a small amount of food safe liquid into a drain...
 
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