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A Labour minister admitted her Government must go “further and faster” to clean up the nation’s rivers.

Water minister Emma Hardy was in the North East on Wednesday to see what she called an “incredibly impressive” innovation that it is hoped will reduce the amount of sewage spills from storm overflows across the region. Northumbrian Water’s £20 million ‘smart sewers’ project has seen sensors and AI technology deployed to automatically divert wastewater into emptier pipes at times when rain is predicted and spills are more likely.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service from the company’s sewage treatment works in Howdon as part of a ‘Things Can Only Get Cleaner’ tour, the MP said that the UK’s water infrastructure was “crumbling”. Ms Hardy said that

© Chronicle Live