Rollercoasters, dinos and... poo? Why a new theme park means big questions about loos

When you think of a giant new theme park, you're probably imagining lots of big thrilling rides. But there is another, less glamorous thing that comes with millions of visitors; poo, and lots of it.

And that is why plans for a new Universal theme park in Bedfordshire have sparked some serious conversations about toilets, pipes and rivers.

The government has given planning permission for the attraction to be built on a site, around six miles south of Bedford in east-central England.

Expected to open in 2031, it could become one of the biggest theme parks in the world, with rides inspired by films such as Jurassic World and James Bond. Universal says the attraction will create 8,000 permanent jobs and attract about eight million visitors in its first year.

But all those visitors will need to use bathrooms.

When we use the toilet, the dirty water does not just disappear. It flows through underground pipes to a water treatment plant (also called a water recycling centre).

While there, it is filtered and treated so the water is much cleaner. It is not drinking water, but it is clean enough to be safely released into the environment.

Water treatment plants are not allowed to release as much water as they like and need official permission.

The problem is that Bedford Water Recycling Centre (WRC), which treats sewage for the area, is already very busy. It currently has permission to release about 35 million litres of cleaned water back into the environment each day.

This volume of water is already an enormous amount - enough to fill 14 Olympic-size swimming pools every single day.

Planning documents suggest the theme park could eventually send an extra 10.6 million litres of "foul discharge" to the site daily and Anglian Water's head of strategic asset planning, Geoff Darch, says the site is "at its limit".

He explains that the theme park will be "like an additional small town being added in to this area – so it's something we've got to take really seriously". Adding that he is confident the works needed can be ready in time and that Universal will "pay their fair share of development costs".

Some local people are worried about what could happen if the system cannot cope.

When treatment works are overwhelmed, often after heavy rain, diluted sewage can spill into rivers. In 2024, 92 spills were recorded from Bedford WRC, lasting a total of 1,291 hours, although monitoring equipment was only working some of the time, so the figure could be higher.

Gerry Sansom, from the Campaign to Protect Rural England, says: "Our concern is sewage capacity and the protection of this wonderful environmental asset of ours: the River Great Ouse and the valley area."

Darch says spills only happen when "absolutely necessary", and are used "to protect customers, who would otherwise themselves be subject to very unpleasant flooding".

The water industry is overseen by a regulator called Ofwat, in a statemen they said: "It's vital that [Anglian Water] continues to engage with Universal on the best way forward to enable the development and we will work with all concerned to ensure that infrastructure enhancement is supported where needed."

Local Members of Parliament (MPs) agree the park could be good for the area but say the sewage issue must be solved.

Bedford Labour MP Mohammad Yasin calls the park "fantastic for the area" and says he will be "pushing government and Universal" to act to solve any sewage issues.

North Bedfordshire Conservative MP Richard Fuller says it is "in everyone's interest that this [theme park] project now goes ahead", adding: "We know there's going to be a problem in the capacity of the sewage works at Bedford. That needs to be fixed."

Universal is yet to respond to the BBC's requests for a comment.