{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Royal Commission on Sewage Disposal was established by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

in 1898 to report on:

(1) What method or methods of treating and disposing of sewage (including any liquid from any factory, or manufacturing process) may properly be adopted, consistently with due regard for the requirements of the existing law, for the protection of the public health, and for the economical and efficient discharge of the duties of local, authorities; and
(2) If more than one method may be so adopted, by what rules, in relation to the nature or volume of sewage, or the population to be served, or other varying circumstances or requirements, should the particular method of treatment and disposal to be adopted be determined The final report of the commissioners appointed to inquire and report what methods of treating and disposing of sewage may be properly adopted, 1915
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The commission convened and re-convened eight times under three different reigns,

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Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second chil ...

and

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

, and remained active until 1912 and in that period published nine reports. *The first report (Cd. 685), published in 1901, was an interim report setting out the initial findings of the commission. *The second report (Cd. 1178), published in 1902, was an appendix of scientific papers to the first report. *The third report (Cd. 1486), published in 1903, dealt with the relationship between

Local Authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

and

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

s that disposed of their waste into rivers and tidal waters and pointed out the great inconsistencies in the way that local authorities operated to control

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, th ...

. *The fourth report (Cd. 1883), published in 1904, dealt specifically with the discharge of waste into tidal waters *The fifth report (Cd. 4278), published in 1908, dealt with the merits of different ways of treating domestic sewage. *The sixth report (Cd. 4511), published in 1909, dealt with the methods of dealing with

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

waste. The commission had established a piece of practical research into this problem and reported on its outcome. *The seventh report (Cd. 5542), published in 1911, dealt with the proliferation of green

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and '' Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

in polluted estuaries and in particular

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to ...

. *The eight report (Cd. 6464), published in 1912, dealt with the standards that should apply to sewage discharges to rivers and tidal waters and specified concentrations of constituents that should not be exceeded. *The ninth report (Cd. 7819), published in 1912, made similar recommendations with regard to manufacturing waste by type. Also within this report further recommendations were made including provisions for giving powers of entry, general changes to the law and for the discharge of waste waters from mines. *The 10th and final report, published in 1915, summarised the findings of the previous reports and made proposals for the establishment of

river board River boards were authorities who controlled land drainage, fisheries and river pollution and had other functions relating to rivers, streams and inland waters in England and Wales between 1950 and 1965. Background Prior to the 1930s, land drain ...

s across England and Wales to complement the three (the West Riding of Yorkshire Rivers Board, the

Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

and Irwell Joint Committee, and the Ribble Joint Committee) already in existence. The findings of the commission were to be used to enact legislation to control sewage and manufacturing pollution of water that continued in force up until the enactment of the Water Act 1974. It was the eighth report of the commission that established the 30:20 standard for sewage effluent that remained the most widely used standard in many parts of the world up till the present.

References

Statutory law Environmental agencies in the United Kingdom 1898 establishments in the United Kingdom

Sewage Disposal Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envi ...

Defunct environmental agencies