Sewage and failing infrastructure: How water firms breached rules 3,100 times ...Middle East

Water companies in England and Wales breached their permits over 3,100 times last year, The i Paper can reveal.

This marked the highest level of breaches ever recorded by the Environment Agency (EA) and a nearly 50 per cent increase from 2023, when around 2,100 breaches were identified.

The EA said the offences included discharging sewage during dry weather, failing to adequately maintain wastewater infrastructure and taking too long to report pollution incidents, documents obtained by The i Paper through freedom of information laws show.

Campaigners described the findings as “a damning indictment of an industry which continues to put profits before the health of our rivers” and urged the Government to take bolder steps to tackle water pollution.

The breaches also illustrate the need for the Government’s Water (Special Measures), Bill which was passed last month and will crack down on polluting firms, campaigners said.

Despite the figures, a spokesperson for Water UK, the industry representative, said around 98 per cent of sewage treatment works and storm overflows meet their permits.

The spokesperson added water companies are “poised to invest the largest amount of money ever spent” on reducing sewage spills and protecting the natural environment.

An EA spokesperson said the regulator is identifying “more breaches than ever before” because it is ramping up the number of water company inspections it carries out each year.

Last year, the EA recorded 3,128 permit breaches across England and Wales.

The largest number of breaches was recorded by Anglian Water (490), followed by United Utilities (474) and Severn Trent (378).

The EA classified 20 of the breaches as Category 1 incidents, meaning they were “associated with a major impact on human health, quality of life or the environment“.

Half of the Category 1 breaches were made by Thames Water.

One of the breaches, which is under investigation by the EA, occurred when the firm discharged sewage from its Slough treatment works “when no rainfall was recorded for 24 hours”.

Another breach, also under investigation, occurred because Thames Water’s Wisley treatment works was “not managed to minimise the risk of pollution [and] not managed using sufficient competent persons and resources”, according to the EA.

A further 281 breaches were classified as Category 2 incidents with a “significant” impact.

Permit breaches by the water companies are illegal. The EA’s response can include guidance and warnings to enforcement action, such as fines.

“A nearly 50 per cent rise in permit breaches in just one year is a damning indictment of an industry that continues to put profits before the health of our rivers,” James Wallace, chief executive of River Action, told The i Paper.

“These findings are clear evidence of systemic negligence by the industry.

“Regulators must be empowered to hold polluters to account with meaningful fines and legal action, while the broken permitting system needs urgent reform to prevent repeat offenders from wreaking havoc.”

An independent commission was also launched in October to carry out what is set to be the biggest review of the water sector since it was privatised over 30 years ago.

“The water commission must deliver bold recommendations to overhaul water company governance and end this reckless pollution-for-profit model,” Wallace added.

“Our rivers cannot wait.”

Ashley Smith, founder of the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) campaign group, said: “It is no surprise that water company performance is getting worse as chronic underinvestment hits the environment and the workforce that has to try to make this work.

“In 2021, WASP’s analyst, Professor Peter Hammond, started exposing serious and widespread illegality across water companies but the pathetic response by the regulators and government has taught them they can keep making money by breaking the law.

“In the absence of a deterrent, why would the ruthless interests that run these companies stop?”

In December, a four-year investigation by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) found the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the EA and Ofwat all failed in their separate duties to monitor unlawful sewage dumping and enforce environmental law.

The OEP sent each body its findings, along with a list of the steps they should take “to put matters right”, warning a failure to do so could result in court action.

The i Paper previously revealed there are hundreds of permits that allow water companies to release sewage into England’s rivers that have not been updated by Government officials for decades.

One permit, which has not been updated in more than 30 years, allows United Utilities to release sewage into a stream connected to Lake Windermere.

While the sewage released into the stream has been treated, campaigners warned that the “primitive” treatment methods at the site mean the wastewater is still harmful to the environment.

The Water (Special Measures) Bill 

The legislation received Royal Assent in February bringing into force a wave of new measures to tackle pollution.

The bill has four key aims:

An EA spokesperson said: “We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously and act after every permit breach.

“If water companies fail to act on our warnings and advice, we will investigate and take enforcement action.

“We are increasing water company inspections to our highest levels, with over 4,000 completed already this financial year, meaning we are now identifying more breaches than ever before.

“This is just one element of our new strengthened approach which combines more staff on the ground supported by new digital tools and intelligence-led regulation.”

Commenting on the record level of permit breaches identified by the EA, Surfers Against Sewage chief executive Giles Bristow said: “This total disregard for the law is appalling and shows that no matter what they are saying in public, the water industry will continue to pollute for profit.

“Our failed water industry model has empowered greedy bosses to treat our blue spaces like an open sewer, raking in the cash whilst making people sick. It’s rotten to the core and needs radical reform.

Mr Bristow described the water commission as a “once in a generation opportunity to radically transform the water sector so that the scourge of profit from pollution is a thing of the past, and our coastlines and rivers can finally be clean again”.

A Defra spokesperson said: “This Government inherited a water system where for too long water companies have pumped record levels of sewage into our waterways.

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“We have secured £104bn of private sector investment to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure, boost economic growth and create thousands of jobs across the country.”

Karen Gibbs, senior leader for the Environment at the Consumer Council for Water, said: “Just a third of customers are satisfied with water companies’ efforts to protect the environment and that perception is not going to change until people see and experience a step-change in performance.”

“As customers’ bills rise steeply over the next five years, so will their expectations that the sector will deliver far more in return for their money. People need convincing that water companies share their concern for the health of the environment and are determined to put things right.”

The average water bill in England and Wales will rise by 36 per cent by 2030 to pay for upgrades to tackle the sewage crisis, the regulator Ofwat has said.

It means bills will increase by an average of £31 a year over the next five years, with payments expected to jump £86 next year followed by smaller annual rises.

A Water UK spokesperson said: “The most recent data confirms that water company compliance is extremely high with around 98 per cent of sewage treatment works and storm overflows meeting their permits.

“Nonetheless, water companies are committed to reaching 100 per cent compliance.

“Water companies in England and Wales are poised to invest the largest amount of money ever spent on the natural environment to help support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.”

Ofwat declined to comment on the grounds that some of the breaches recorded last year remain under investigation by the EA.

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