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<p>The Government has made improving water quality a priority. The Environment Act
has placed our ambition on a statutory footing, setting a duty for water companies
to achieve a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm
overflows. Our Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan will be published in September
and will set out the targets water companies will be required to meet to achieve this.</p><p>
</p><p>Currently, no assessment has been undertaken on sewage discharges on animal
farming more generally. Pharmaceuticals may enter the environment during the manufacture
and disposal of pharmaceutical products, or as they pass through humans and animals
into wastewater treatment networks or the wider environment.</p><p> </p><p>There is
much to be done to improve our understanding of the impacts that pharmaceuticals have
on the environment, but some are known to cause adverse impacts on aquatic life and
contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment
Agency (EA) and Defra has worked with Water UK on the Chemicals Investigation Programme
to investigate the fate and travel of antimicrobial resistance through waste water
treatment works, and are advocating more work via the 2024 price review.</p>
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