Serious pollution incidents ‘unacceptably high’ as five out of nine UK water firms receive two star rating

Five out of the UK’s nine water companies have only been rated two stars for their environmental commitment to reduce water pollution incidents.

In its annual report of England water firms released on Wednesday (June 12), the Environment Agency (EA) said the number of serious pollution incidents still “remains unacceptably high” - despite the number reducing from 62 in 2021 to 44 in 2022.

The EA said the number of pollution incidents in 2022 “were similar to 2021” and “remain too high”, with the agency’s Chair Alan Lovell adding that it is “unacceptable to still be seeing this level of pollution” and there must be “profound, long-term change”.

The water companies rated only two stars and require improvement, include Anglian Water, Thames Water, Wessex Water, Southern Water and South West Water.

The rating takes into account performance on environmental commitments such as pollution incidents and treatment work compliance.

Anglian Water, Thames Water and Wessex Water have not improved their environmental performance at all since 2021 with the firms still rated at two stars.

A Thames Water spokesperson told NationalWorld it “recognises our performance in preventing pollution is still not good enough” and “we’re committed to turning this around”.

An Anglian Water spokesperson said “we fully accept that our performance must improve” and “know we must do better” while a Wessex Water spokesperson said it is “disappointed” by the rating as they are “a leading performer” in all other areas of their business and are “determined to restore our environmental performance”.

Southern Water and South West Water both increased their environmental performance, but from one star to two with the companies still requiring improvement.

Southern Water’s CEO Lawrence Gosden said it “has been a challenging year for our customers and our business” and “we are responding to these challenges”.

CEO of Pennon, which owns South West Water, Susan Davy said its customers “can be reassured that we are making significant progress in our environmental performance”.

She added: “I said we would improve and we have. South West Water has delivered the greatest reduction in total waste water pollution incidents across the sector, by some way.

“The plan is working and we remain on track to becoming a four-star company by the end of 2024.”

The EA also found that more than half of serious pollution incidents were from assets of Anglian Water and Thames Water.

Thames Water has come under fire as its new interim CEO Cathryn Ross, the previous CEO of regulator Ofwat, refused to apologise on Wednesday (July 12) after MPs accused her of being responsible for putting the firm on the brink of collapse.

In an Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Labour MP Darren Jones demanded an apology as he said Ross had allowed the Australian investment bank Macquarie to ramp up Thames Water’s debt in 2014, during her time as Ofwat CEO, which he said ultimately caused the crisis the company now faces.

Northern Irish singer Feargal Sharkey, who has become a figurehead in the fight to stop water companies discharging sewage into UK rivers, tweeted that Ross’ refusal to apologise was an “absolutely stupefying level of arrogance”.

The report found that self-reporting of pollution incidents by water companies was 82%, the best figure since the start of the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) in 2011, however self-reporting on serious incidents only reached 48%.

Northumbrian Water and United Utilities both dropped from four to three stars, Yorkshire Water was rated three stars up from two and Severn Trent was the best rated water company remaining at four stars.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said its improvement is “testament to work of our colleagues in the last 12 months” but “are not complacent and know there is much more we need to do”. A United Utilities spokesperson said it has “achieved the top ratings of three or four stars every year since the performance assessment was introduced, demonstrating our track record in protecting the environment”.

A Northumbrian Water spokesperson said the firm “remains committed to delivering the best results possible for the environment” and is “focused on attaining good or leading status going forward in spite of increasing and tightening standards.”