EU takes UK to court over waste water

The European Commission said Thursday it is taking the British government to court for allowing London sewage spill from storm water overflows.

The EU executive said in a statement that waste water collection in the Europe's largest city violates EU rules because it spills "too frequently and in excessive quantities."

Sudden rainfall can rapidly fill the sewage network, leading to an overflow of untreated sewage, which is piped directly into streams and rivers.

The European Court of Justice can order Britain to take action under threat of daily fines.

In London, the British government said it could not comment on the case, but believed that UK water quality is consistently at a high level.

The Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs said in a statement that Britain has heavily invested in improvements to overflows under the EU's urban waste water directive, including work in England, Wales and the city of London.