To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a list of those viruses that are not destroyed by passing through a sewage treatment works.

The best estimates that we have are that primary treatment removes up to 50 per cent. of viruses and that secondary treatment removes up to 99 per cent. of viruses from sewage effluent.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what provisions the new EEC draft directive on waste water contains on discharges in sewer outfalls in coastal waters within 5 km of bathing beaches.

The EC proposed municipal waste water treatment directive generally requires secondary treatment of sewage prior to discharge, but primary treatment may suffice for coastal discharges where it can be shown that there is no adverse environmental effect. These requirements are in line with my right hon. Friend's statement on sewage treatment policy on 5 March at column 452. A copy of the explanatory memorandum on the municipal waste water directive is in the Library.