UK water firm bosses to face up to two years in prison over sewage dumping under new law to crack down on pollution in rivers and seas

On Thursday (5 September) the government unveiled a package of measures designed to combat the regular dumping of sewage by water companies in its Water Bill. The Bill delivers on the manifesto pledges to clean up the water sector, including significantly increasing the ability of the Environment Agency to bring forward criminal charges against law-breaking water executives. It will create new tougher penalties, including imprisonment, for water executives when companies fail to co-operate or obstruct investigations. 

The Bill also includes plans for bonuses to be blocked if water companies do not meet environmental or consumer standards, and “severe and automatic” speeding ticket-style fines for pollution incidents. It comes after public anger over the regular dumping of sewage into waterways by water companies. Sewage spills rose to a record high last year, with 477,000 incidents over four million hours, up 58 per cent on 2022.

Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, said: “The public are furious that, in 21st-century Britain, record levels of sewage are being pumped into our rivers, lakes and seas.  Under this government, water executives will no longer line their own pockets whilst pumping out this filth. If they refuse to comply, they could end up in the dock and face prison time.”

However, campaigners have slammed the new plans as inadequate. Charles Watson, the founder of River Action, said: “If the secretary of state believes that the few one-off actions announced today, such as curtailing bosses’ bonuses – however appealing they may sound – are going to fix the underlying causes of our poisoned waterways, then he needs to think again.”

Feargal Sharkey, fierce sewage campaigner who is holding a protest in October, said the plans were not enough. He said: “I still think this country needs to turn up at Whitehall and send that signal to the government, regulators and the industry that we’ve had enough, we’re not going to tolerate any more. It stops here and it stops today.”

The government said the Bill would swiftly deliver on its manifesto promise to clean up the water sector. Water bosses will face a maximum sentence of two years in jail, as will any other employees found to be directly blocking investigations by the Environment Agency or the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

A spokesman for Water UK, the industry body, said: “We agree with the government that the water system is not working. Fixing it requires the government to deliver the two things which it has promised: fundamental regulatory reform and speeding up investment.

“Ofwat needs to back our £105 billion investment plan in full to secure our water supplies, enable economic growth and end sewage spilling into our rivers and seas.” A final determination is expected in December.