First we had “Build houses now, fix pollution later” which has particular resonance in East Devon, now no one is sure how many “illegal” sewage discharges are needed before triggering a criminal investigation of a water company’.

Was Feargal Sharkey jumping the gun when he endorsed Helen Dallimore’s (Labour) candidacy for Exmouth & Exeter East, given the proven record of local Lib Dem Richard Foord? – Owl

PS Labour’s consultation on housing development is seeking Exeter to increase its housing target by 26.9%, East Devon by 28.3%, Mid Devon by 65% and Teignbridge by 48.7%. When and where will South West Water provide the necessary increase in sewage treatment infrastructure capacity?

Water firm bosses to face criminal charges over ‘persistent’ sewage dumping – the most boring and weak announcement from Steve Reed

Steve Reed has confirmed that water bosses will face criminal charges over sewage dumping – the most boring and disappointing announcement to date.

Isabella Boneham www.nationalworld.com 

To make matters worse, Reed said that water bosses will face criminal charges over “persistent” and “severe levels of illegal sewage dumping”. So is it okay if they do it now and again? It is okay if a water firm dumps huge amounts of sewage but then doesn’t do it again for a while?

Victoria Derbyshire pressed on this yesterday (Sunday 28 July) during an interview with Reed and he wasn’t able to answer how many times they are able to illegally discharge sewage until they get charged. It is tiring hearing politicians time and time again making promises about toughening up on the water industry, yet coming out with ambiguous plans that do not seem to be a harsh crackdown at all.

Reed would not say what level of sewage dumping it would take for charges to be brought and that is worrying. It will be interesting to see what his meaning of “persistent” is – and how much sewage will have to be dumped on UK rivers and beaches before they decide to enforce a criminal charge. Water firms should be held accountable every time they dump sewage illegally.

Reed also said that Labour will “ban their multimillion pound bonuses while they are overseeing these failures” – so their ludicrous bonuses can continue, again, if the water firm only discharges sewage now and then?

The ludicrous bonuses should be stopped completely. The government should renationalise the water industry and put it back under the power of the people and public ownership. Here Reed is letting the mega rich off the hook – it is disappointing and angering.

Water firms have already been fined thousands for pollution incidents and yet sewage dumping continues. Fines haven’t worked. A criminal charge after “persistent” sewage dumping also is not going to work, and the scandal will continue.

Mr Reed also said Thames Water wouldn’t be re-nationalised. There is no tough stance on the water industry. If a water firm is inevitably collapsing due to their own financial mismanagement, the customer’s shouldn’t have to pay, their bills should not have to go up – instead the firm should be taken into public ownership without any shareholder buy-out costs.

All words, no action and ambiguous statements. It is disappointing, but not surprising. Levels of sewage dumping will have to get to the point of “persistent” for a water firm to face a criminal charge and that means we will all continue to see the joys of more raw waste flushed into our waterways. A good start Mr Reed.

Dr Laurence Couldrick shares his thoughts on the latest Environmental Performance Assessment Report from the Environment Agency. wrt.org.uk

You might think that privies and cesspools may be a thing of the past, but with more and more stories about our failing water and sewage systems, you could be forgiven in thinking we are heading backward not forward in time.

On 23 July 2024, the Environment Agency published its Water and Sewerage Companies in England: Environmental Performance Assessment Report (EPA) 2023.

Within the report, the EA rated the nine water companies in England from one star to four stars, as it has since 2011. This year, three water companies reached the maximum four EPA stars due to ongoing improvements. Will this spur others on to improve, including our region’s main provider, South West Water (SWW), which remained at two stars from 2022?

The EA certainly hope so and Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency, said in his foreword to the report:

“…My over-riding sense is one of frustration and disappointment. The results we see are, yet again, simply not good enough…
“…With additional resources in place, a focus on transparent inspection and regulation, tightened EPA metrics and new legal powers, we are bringing stronger regulation to this sector in the coming year. We shall continue to drive for improved performance.”

Local issues

In terms of our local water company, SWW, it is the only firm failing numeric permit conditions and classed in the bottom (red) category for discharging treated wastewater via sewage and water treatment works. Regarding total pollution incidents from sewerage assets, there has been an increase to 1,902 with no water company achieving target (green), the first time for any metric since the EPA began – but SWW is highlighted as continuing to perform significantly below target and rated ‘red’.

In addition, SWW failed to meet all requirements within planned deadlines under the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) EPA metric for planned environmental improvement schemes, joining two other firms at the ‘amber’ level.

It is still one of the lowest performing companies and in need of improvement and this is a massively disappointing position. The trust works closely with SWW to try and improve our rivers by working with farmers and improving sections of rivers so it is devastating to see pollution incidents continuing to degrade the environment. Whilst work is scheduled to deal with a lot of these negative impacts it is vital we work together to ensure we build resilience within our system.

Call for smart change

Alongside these local impacts, and according to the report, more than 90% of serious pollution incidents were caused by four water companies – Anglian Water, Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water. We could turn a blind eye as they aren’t in our patch, but we all need to bolster the work to be done across the country to address the infrastructure, climate and societal issues hindering the water sector’s ability to fully ensure our rivers are healthy and our water access is sustainable. This is why we support our national Rivers Trust to keep pressure on the sector to push for smart change.

The report did include some positive EPA metric notes such as all water companies performing better than target (green) for satisfactory sludge use and disposal; the best results for self-reporting of all pollution incidents since reporting began; and all achieving green under the Supply Demand Balance Index (SDBI).

The EA has secured an additional £55m of funding from government and water company permits to invest in 500 staff in dedicated enforcement teams and new digital systems to identify the root cause of issues. It cites it will conduct 4,000 inspections a year of water company permitted sites by the end of March 2025, rising to 10,000 a year by the end of March 2026 and 11,500 a year by the end of March 2027. It is expected the evidence gathered through these inspections will inform future performance assessments, investment plans and proactive enforcement.

Act positive for constructive and sustainable change

So in summary, despite the findings still painting an overall bleak picture, with a new government, the culmination of the price review from regulators Ofwat on the horizon, and policies in the Environment Act and Environmental Improvement Plan to deliver, this is the time to act positive and keep chipping away for constructive and sustainable change.

Dr Laurence Couldrick, Chief Executive Officer

For 13 years South West Water have failed to meet their pollution “incident” targets.

That’s every year since the Environment Agency started reporting on Environment Performance metrics, worse than any other water company. 

South West Water has 12 non-compliant discharge sites  for treated wastewater. It’s amongst the worst three companies and it’s performance is declining.

South West Water is one of two companies whose investment targets in water quality schemes are not within planned deadlines. Ofwat determines what the water companies can charge us for investment. If these deadlines are not being met where has our money gone?

According to the report in the Plymouth Herald: Pennon Group, which owns South West Water, insists that

“delivering improvements in our environmental performance remains our top priority”.

Below, Owl posts the Chair’s forward to the Environment Agency’s environmental performance report 2023 who expresses “frustration and disappointment” with extracts from the key sections that catalogue South West Water’s failings. “The results we see are, yet again, simply not good enough.”

The Chair also says: “Lack of investment in assets over a long period and particularly the last decade means that problems have often been addressed reactively.”

And adds: “But it is not just about money. The culture within some water companies can also perpetuate poor practices. For example, some simply do not understand the root cause of their problems and incidents are not reported in a timely manner.”

Fine words, but are the Environment Agency doing enough? Or are they still a toothless “paper tiger”? – Owl

Water and sewerage companies in England: environmental performance report 2023

A summary of the environmental performance of the 9 water and sewerage companies operating in England. www.gov.uk 

1. Chair’s foreword

It is with a mix of emotions that I write this foreword to the 2023 performance report containing the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA). My over-riding sense is one of frustration and disappointment. The results we see are, yet again, simply not good enough.  

The good news is that three companies achieved the maximum four EPA stars compared to one in 2022 – Severn Trent Water, Wessex Water and United Utilities. Credit to Severn Trent for achieving this for the fifth year running. But the performance of most companies lags far behind. We are seeing polarised performance as shown by the number of serious pollution incidents. Over 90% were caused by four water companies – Anglian Water, Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water. This is unacceptable.   

Improvements will not happen overnight. Lack of investment in assets over a long period and particularly the last decade means that problems have often been addressed reactively. We welcome Ofwat’s draft determination for the next five year control period which should allow investment in many of the critical pieces of infrastructure needed to meet legal requirements. We will play our role in ensuring that the companies deliver these projects.  

But it is not just about money. The culture within some water companies can also perpetuate poor practices. For example, some simply do not understand the root cause of their problems and incidents are not reported in a timely manner – this is vital for improving transparency and trust across this sector. We know that with a changing climate, the country is going to experience more extreme weather patterns, increased rainfall and more rapid drought. Water companies must ensure that assets are resilient enough to withstand these challenges. We will not take ‘bad weather’ as an excuse for poor environmental performance.  

We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously. The regulations are clear, and we enforce them robustly. We have taken tough action against companies breaking the rules and have several serious investigations in progress. But we need to go further. 

We have agreed with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), our sponsor department, a major increase in Environment Agency inspections of water company assets to provide assurance that they are meeting the requirements. We will carry out 4,000 such inspections this financial year and over 10,000 next year.  To support this, we are investing in our digital systems, regulatory tools and increasing our enforcement activity. You can find the full list of our commitments in our business plan 2024 to 2025. We will ensure that the findings of these inspections are made public. And we are working closely with Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State, on new legislation to strengthen our legal powers and penalties for pollution.

We have worked with companies to review their first drainage and wastewater management plans. These will ensure companies change to proactive investment in asset health and maintenance, to reduce risks and put headroom into their systems to deal with future challenges like climate and population growth. 

Since 2011 the EPA and wider reporting have provided an independent and objective comparison of water and sewerage companies’ performance As the regulator we constantly tighten EPA targets – which has been fundamental in driving better performance.  If the tighter standards we now apply had been in place in 2011, water companies would only have achieved 11 stars in comparison to the 25 they achieved in 2023.  Whilst this shows some improvement over that time, current performance is still a long way from meeting our expectations. We are reviewing the EPA to strengthen and broaden the metrics from 2026. 

With additional resources in place, a focus on transparent inspection and regulation, tightened EPA metrics and new legal powers, we are bringing stronger regulation to this sector in the coming year. We shall continue to drive for improved performance.

Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency

2. Performance facts for 2023

For 2023, the main performance facts for the sector are that:

• 5 water companies are rated as requiring improvement (2 stars) in our EPA, 1 is rated as good (3 stars) and 3 achieved 4 stars – all water companies should be able to achieve 4 stars
• there was a small improvement in star ratings with some water companies meeting our metric targets consistently in this EPA period so far (since 2021) – however the majority continue to underperform as they are not getting the basics right, such as minimising pollution incidents and achieving permit compliance
• the number of serious pollution incidents (category 1 and 2) increased to 47, remaining unacceptably high and not trending towards zero – mainly due to the performance of 3 water companies, resulting in a very polarised performance picture across the sector
• for the serious pollution incident EPA metric, Northumbrian Water and Severn Trent Water had zero incidents, however 4 water companies performed significantly below target (red) – numbers are dominated by serious pollution incidents from the assets of Anglian Water, Southern Water and Thames Water, with Yorkshire Water also rated red
• total pollution incidents from sewerage and water supply assets (category 1 to 3) increased to 2,174 – the second consecutive annual increase and highest number recorded since 2019
• total pollution incidents from sewerage assets increased to 1,902 with no water company achieving target (green), the first time for any metric since the EPA began in 2011 – Southern Water and South West Water continued to perform significantly below target (red) with Anglian Water also rated red
• self-reporting of all pollution incidents by water companies was 84%, and 93% for just pumping stations (PS) and sewage treatment works (STW) combined – this was the best since the EPA began however 3 water companies performed below target (amber) including a notable deterioration by Southern Water
• 98.8% of STW and water treatment works (WTW) were compliant with numeric permit conditions for discharging treated wastewater – although 6 water companies achieved target (green), the poor performance of 3 water companies, including South West Water (the only red water company), means the sector is not improving
• for the satisfactory sludge use and disposal EPA metric, all water companies performed better than target (green)
• for the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) EPA metric 99.2% of planned environmental improvement schemes were completed – 3 water companies failed to meet all requirements within planned deadlines (Thames Water rated red, Anglian Water and South West Water rated amber)
• for the Supply Demand Balance Index (SDBI) EPA metric all water companies achieved target (green)

4. Pollution incident performance

Pollution incidents lead to the release of harmful substances into air, land or water, and some can cause significant harm to the environment. We categorise all incidents based on their impact. Incidents are assessed as having a major (category 1), significant (category 2), or minor (category 3) impact on the water environment. Please refer to our EPA metric guide for more information……

• there were 1,902 sewerage pollution incidents, compared to 1,658 in 2022 – this is the worst performance since 2019 with 8 water companies having an increase compared to the previous year
• no water company achieved our EPA target (green), the first time for any metric since the EPA was introduced in 2011 – and a disappointing decline from the previous 2 years when we reported 4 water companies achieved green in each of those years
• 3 water companies performed significantly below target (red) for this EPA metric – Anglian Water for the first time, Southern Water for the fifth year in a row and South West Water for all 13 EPA reported years
• 6 water companies performed below target (amber) for this EPA metric
• if all water companies had achieved green EPA status in this metric there would have been at least 764 fewer sewerage pollution incidents and less environmental harm
• most of the incidents were from foul sewers (670), followed by STW (487) and PS (472)

5.1 Discharge permit compliance (numeric)

This section is about water company compliance with permits to discharge treated wastewater from STW and WTW (not storm overflows). As part of the EPA we assess compliance with conditions in these permits that set numeric limits for pollutants in the discharges….

Compliance for the sector is not improving. It is a statutory obligation to comply with permits. Our WISER performance expectation for 2020 to 2025 sets out that water companies should have a plan in place to achieve 100% compliance. In 2023:

• 98.8% of STW and WTW were compliant, compared to 99.0% in 2022, 98.7% in 2021, 99.2% in 2020 and 98.7% in 2019
• out of 3,800 STW and WTW permitted discharge outlets there were 45 non-compliant sites compared to 38 in 2022, 49 in 2021, 31 in 2020 and 49 in 2019 – no water company achieved 100% compliance with their permits
• South West Water performed significantly below target (red) with 12 non-compliant sites (96.2%) – a disappointing decline in performance from green status and 2 failing sites in 2022, and showing inconsistency in recent years
• Anglian Water had the most non-compliant sites (13) performing below target (amber) alongside Northumbrian Water (3)
• 6 water companies achieved target (green) for this EPA metric – of these Severn Trent Water, Thames Water, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water have been consistently green in this EPA period so far (since 2021)
• there would have been at least 16 fewer non-compliant sites if all water companies had achieved green EPA status

7.1 Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP)

In 2019 Ofwat set the prices that water companies could charge their customers between April 2020 and March 2025. As part of that price review (PR19) we developed and published a WINEP for each water company. Our expectation for all planned schemes (including asset improvements, investigations and monitoring) to be completed to agreed timescales and specification was not met by all water companies. The EPA WINEP metric assesses completion of all improvement schemes and most investigation schemes…….

For the financial year ending March 2024 (cumulative progress for years 1 to 4 of the WINEP) for WINEP schemes in the EPA:

• 5 water companies are rated as requiring improvement (2 stars) in our EPA, 1 is rated as good (3 stars) and 3 achieved 4 stars – all water companies should be able to achieve 4 stars
• there was a small improvement in star ratings with some water companies meeting our metric targets consistently in this EPA period so far (since 2021) – however the majority continue to underperform as they are not getting the basics right, such as minimising pollution incidents and achieving permit compliance
• the number of serious pollution incidents (category 1 and 2) increased to 47, remaining unacceptably high and not trending towards zero – mainly due to the performance of 3 water companies, resulting in a very polarised performance picture across the sector
• for the serious pollution incident EPA metric, Northumbrian Water and Severn Trent Water had zero incidents, however 4 water companies performed significantly below target (red) – numbers are dominated by serious pollution incidents from the assets of Anglian Water, Southern Water and Thames Water, with Yorkshire Water also rated red
• total pollution incidents from sewerage and water supply assets (category 1 to 3) increased to 2,174 – the second consecutive annual increase and highest number recorded since 2019
• total pollution incidents from sewerage assets increased to 1,902 with no water company achieving target (green), the first time for any metric since the EPA began in 2011 – Southern Water and South West Water continued to perform significantly below target (red) with Anglian Water also rated red
• self-reporting of all pollution incidents by water companies was 84%, and 93% for just pumping stations (PS) and sewage treatment works (STW) combined – this was the best since the EPA began however 3 water companies performed below target (amber) including a notable deterioration by Southern Water
• 98.8% of STW and water treatment works (WTW) were compliant with numeric permit conditions for discharging treated wastewater – although 6 water companies achieved target (green), the poor performance of 3 water companies, including South West Water (the only red water company), means the sector is not improving
• for the satisfactory sludge use and disposal EPA metric, all water companies performed better than target (green)
• for the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) EPA metric 99.2% of planned environmental improvement schemes were completed – 3 water companies failed to meet all requirements within planned deadlines (Thames Water rated red, Anglian Water and South West Water rated amber)
• for the Supply Demand Balance Index (SDBI) EPA metric all water companies achieved target (green)

4. Pollution incident performance

Pollution incidents lead to the release of harmful substances into air, land or water, and some can cause significant harm to the environment. We categorise all incidents based on their impact. Incidents are assessed as having a major (category 1), significant (category 2), or minor (category 3) impact on the water environment. Please refer to our EPA metric guide for more information……

• there were 1,902 sewerage pollution incidents, compared to 1,658 in 2022 – this is the worst performance since 2019 with 8 water companies having an increase compared to the previous year
• no water company achieved our EPA target (green), the first time for any metric since the EPA was introduced in 2011 – and a disappointing decline from the previous 2 years when we reported 4 water companies achieved green in each of those years
• 3 water companies performed significantly below target (red) for this EPA metric – Anglian Water for the first time, Southern Water for the fifth year in a row and South West Water for all 13 EPA reported years
• 6 water companies performed below target (amber) for this EPA metric
• if all water companies had achieved green EPA status in this metric there would have been at least 764 fewer sewerage pollution incidents and less environmental harm
• most of the incidents were from foul sewers (670), followed by STW (487) and PS (472)

5.1 Discharge permit compliance (numeric)

This section is about water company compliance with permits to discharge treated wastewater from STW and WTW (not storm overflows). As part of the EPA we assess compliance with conditions in these permits that set numeric limits for pollutants in the discharges….

Compliance for the sector is not improving. It is a statutory obligation to comply with permits. Our WISER performance expectation for 2020 to 2025 sets out that water companies should have a plan in place to achieve 100% compliance. In 2023:

• 98.8% of STW and WTW were compliant, compared to 99.0% in 2022, 98.7% in 2021, 99.2% in 2020 and 98.7% in 2019
• out of 3,800 STW and WTW permitted discharge outlets there were 45 non-compliant sites compared to 38 in 2022, 49 in 2021, 31 in 2020 and 49 in 2019 – no water company achieved 100% compliance with their permits
• South West Water performed significantly below target (red) with 12 non-compliant sites (96.2%) – a disappointing decline in performance from green status and 2 failing sites in 2022, and showing inconsistency in recent years
• Anglian Water had the most non-compliant sites (13) performing below target (amber) alongside Northumbrian Water (3)
• 6 water companies achieved target (green) for this EPA metric – of these Severn Trent Water, Thames Water, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water have been consistently green in this EPA period so far (since 2021)
• there would have been at least 16 fewer non-compliant sites if all water companies had achieved green EPA status

7.1 Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP)

In 2019 Ofwat set the prices that water companies could charge their customers between April 2020 and March 2025. As part of that price review (PR19) we developed and published a WINEP for each water company. Our expectation for all planned schemes (including asset improvements, investigations and monitoring) to be completed to agreed timescales and specification was not met by all water companies. The EPA WINEP metric assesses completion of all improvement schemes and most investigation schemes…….

For the financial year ending March 2024 (cumulative progress for years 1 to 4 of the WINEP) for WINEP schemes in the EPA:

• 99.2% (3,481 out of 3,508) met requirements within planned deadlines
• Thames Water performed significantly below target (red) due to 19 water quality schemes not meeting requirements within planned deadlines (93.4%)
• 2 water companies performed below target (amber) due to water quality schemes not meeting requirements within planned deadlines – Anglian Water (99.6%, 3 schemes), South West Water (98.8%, 5 schemes)
• 6 water companies met all requirements (100%, green) within planned deadlines – of these Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent Water, United Utilities, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water have been consistently green in this EPA period so far (since 2021)