A majority of England’s nine water and sewage companies are “failing to get the basics right”, according to annual rankings which labelled four operators as responsible for 90% of serious pollution incidents.
The report by the Environment Agency (EA) covering 2023 showed there were 47 of the most serious pollution instances recorded – up from 44 in the previous year.
The EA said that more than 90% of them were caused by either Anglian Water, Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water.
It said that fact “polarised performance” across the sector as firms UK-wide face pressure to cut raw sewage discharges through heightened, and long overdue, investment in their infrastructure.
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A total of 45 sites were found to be non-compliant with national standards.
Storm overflows reaching capacity due to intense rain have been widely blamed by the industry for a surge in sewage pollution.
Firms argue that preventing discharges would have meant raw effluent backing up into people’s homes.
Separate EA data covering 2023, released in March, showed spills into England’s rivers hit record levels last year.
Discharges of untreated sewage by water companies doubled from 1.8 million hours in 2022 to a record 3.6 million while there were 464,000 individual spills recorded – up from 301,000.
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Raw sewage in rivers hits record high
On Tuesday, the EA said just three firms met conditions for its top four-star performance ranking.
• Severn Trent Water – 4 stars – no change from 2022
• United Utilities – 4 stars, up from 3 stars
• Wessex Water – 4 stars, up from 2 stars
• Northumbrian Water – 3 stars, the same as the previous year
• Anglian Water – 2 stars, no change from 2022
• Southern Water – 2 stars, the same as the previous year
• South West Water – 2 stars, no change
• Thames Water – 2 stars, the same as the previous year
• Yorkshire Water – 2 stars, down from 3 stars
The election of the new government has placed fresh impetus behind the drive for improvement.
Labour’s plans include tougher penalties for poor performance and the ability to block rewards for failure when annual bonuses and shareholder payouts are due.
Ofwat, the industry regulator, is also getting more powers.
It is currently investigating all wastewater companies in England and Wales over sewage spills.
The watchdog is currently negotiating with firms on their business plans for the years 2025-30.
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Water bills to rise by £19 a year average
An interim determination earlier this month concluded bills should rise by an average 21% over the period, reflecting the need for investment.
A final determination is due in December.
All firms sought hefty increases to bills, with Southern Water leading the way with a proposed rise of almost 73% over the five-year term.
Thames Water, which remains under threat of financial collapse and coming under government-controlled administration, wanted to impose a 42% increase.
Both Southern and Thames were among the four firms in England judged by the EA to be performing worst on pollution.
The body’s chair, Alan Lovell, said: “For the nation to have cleaner rivers and seas, water companies must take responsibility to understand the root cause of their problems.
“It is promising to see some companies starting to accept their responsibilities, but it is evident that the pace of improvement continues to fall short.
“We frequently tighten standards to drive better performance and we have been clear that we expect all companies to achieve, and most critically sustain, better environmental performance.
“As part of this we are taking forward our biggest ever transformation in the way we regulate, recruiting up to 500 additional staff, increasing compliance checks and quadrupling the number of water company inspections by March next year.”