Water firms are being asked to pump more money into preventing sewage leaking into rivers.

The Environment Agency has called for action after a survey of water quality revealed more than half the rivers in the South of England had high phosphate levels, partly due to sewage.

The agency has called for more investment by water firms to upgrade their water treatment facilities.

A nutrient assessment showed 57 per cent of the rivers contained high levels of phosphate, probably from sewage, which promotes algae growth, stripping the water of oxygen.

David Jordan, the agency's regional director, said: "Most householders would be willing to pay a few pence more on their water bills each week, equivalent to the cost of a can of drink, to get improvements to their environment.

"In the current price review, the Environment Agency and English Nature have highlighted environmental priorities for the water firms to take into account for the five years from 2005."

The report comes after Southern Water announced it wanted to increase its water bills by 7.2 per cent a year from 2005.

A spokeswoman said: "Southern Water's profit is ploughed back into our investment programme to help ensure better bathing waters, cleaner rivers and improved drinking water quality.

"From 2000 to 2005, we are investing £1 billion in better water supplies and sewage treatment systems, including more than 450 individual schemes.

"We are spending almost £700,000 a day on improvement schemes to upgrade river and bathing water quality."

Friday September 26, 2003