Brussels, 05/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to the United Kingdom over a breach of EU rules for the collection and treatment of urban waste water. This is the second warning prior to possible action being taken at the Court of Justice. The case concerns insufficient collection and treatment facilities for four urban centres: London, Torbay, Whitburn, and Kilbarchan in Scotland. The Commission denounces the way in which once flows of urban waste water is exceeded, overflow systems are used, resulting in substantial amounts of untreated waste water being discharged into the receiving waters (rivers or the sea). This occurs on a regular basis. The frequency of these overflows can in certain cases exceed 80 times per year, causing millions of cubic meters of untreated waste water to be released, which is clearly a violation of the EU's Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. The UK received first written warnings for these violations in April 2003 (with respect to Torbay, Whitburn and Kilbarchan) and March 2005 (London). Despite the measures proposed, the Commission explained that the problems regarding discharges still persist.