To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated cost of providing treatment for sewage discharges to estuarial and coastal waters.

The cost of providing primary treatment for coastal discharges and secondary treatment for estuarial discharges for populations above 10,000 was estimated at around £1·5 billion by Consultants in Environmental Sciences Ltd. A copy of its report "Study of Coastal Sewage Discharges" is available in the Library. CES Ltd. has recently completed a further study to refine its earlier estimate and to include the cost of providing secondary treatment for discharges to estuaries for populations between 2,000 and 10,000 as required by the draft municipal waste water directive. The revised estimate of costs is now put at some £2.16 billion. Copies of the latest study by CES are being placed in the Library.