Bill payers are suing six of the UK’s biggest water companies for £1.5bn over sewage discharges in one of the biggest legal battles of its kind, i can reveal.
Kyriakos Petrakos inews.co.uk
The companies have been accused of underreporting the number of raw sewage discharges they have made into canals and rivers, allowing them to charge customers more than they would had they reported an accurate number.
Bosses at the firms have refuted the claims and vowed to defend themselves in the legal challenge “robustly”.
Environmental consultant Carolyn Roberts is leading the case as the proposed representative for 35 million water customers that may be paid damages if she succeeds.
She told i that she wants to see bill payers compensated and hopes that the vast damages water companies may have to pay will “persuade them to change their behaviour”.
Leigh Day Solicitors, the legal firm overseeing the six claims, said that between them the companies may have to pay anywhere between £878m and £1.5bn in damages.
Environment Agency data released this year showed that more sewage was dumped into England’s waterways in 2023 than in any other year on record.
This has prompted an angry reaction from the public as water customers throughout the country shared stories of their gardens flooding with sewage, falling ill after swimming in rivers and having their streets flooded with E.coli infested water and used sanitary products.
The six water companies that have had claims issued against them as part of the legal case are Thames Water, Severn Trent Water, Northumbrian Water, United Utilities, Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water.
Environment agency data shows that these six firms dumped sewage over 330,000 times for 2.4 million hours last year, with the largest number of spills recorded along the River Severn.
Anglers at one of the Severn’s top fishing spots in Shrewsbury told i in 2023 that they “don’t want to come to Shrewsbury any more” because they are fed up of catching “more tampons than fish“.
The case against the six companies stems from data collected by Professor Peter Hammond, a mathematician who records illegal spills using sewage discharge monitoring data and Environment Information Requests covering hundreds of sewage treatment works across the country.
According to Mr Hammond, his findings revealed that water companies across the country “were underreporting their spills of untreated sewage”.
Mr Hammond added that the companies hadn’t “performed up to standard” but concealed this to avoid paying customers compensation.
Severn Trent refuted the claim brought against it, while Thames Water said it is aware of the claim against it but will “defend the claim robustly”. The other water companies are yet to respond.
Ms Roberts said that the central aim of the legal action was to see the amount of additional charges unfairly imposed on customers returned to them as compensation.
Water companies must report sewage discharges to Ofwat, the regulator. Ofwat takes these spills into account when deciding the prices companies are able to charge – with prices lowered if targets are not met.
In September last year, Ofwat ordered several water companies to pay back £114m to customers through lower bills after “falling short” on performance measures around leakages, supply and reducing pollution.
The legal challenge brought by Ms Roberts claims that water companies are underreporting discharged to avoid being found to have missed Ofwat’s target level.
“We are going after the six that we think will generate the largest returns, given their permit exceedances and the populations they serve,” she said. “The intention is that the amount that the companies have to pay back to their customers will persuade them to change their behaviour.”’
Ms Roberts has assisted in dozens of police investigations in which human corpses have been discovered in rivers, canals and other waterways, providing her with experience of the courts system.
She said: “I have experience of giving evidence in court and generating a case. I have done over 30 cases.”
Thames Water is the latest company to have a claim issued against it, which will be heard jointly with the claims made against the five other water companies at the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
The claim form issued against Thames Water says that it may need to pay £159.1m in compensation to nearly 11.5m customers if the case against it succeeds.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “Thames Water is aware of the claims brought against it and other water and sewerage companies by Professor Roberts.
“Thames Water will defend the claim robustly.”
A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “This is a highly speculative claim with no merit which we strongly refute. Should pollutions ever occur, they are always reported to the Environment Agency. Any claim to the contrary is wholly and completely wrong.
“Our regulators, the Environment Agency and Ofwat, set strict targets and performance measures that deliver for our customers and the environment. Severn Trent is recognised as a sector leader by both regulators across operational and environmental measures. We consistently deliver for our customers, and are the only water company to have received the highest 4* status for environmental performance from the Environment Agency for four years running and are on track for a fifth year.”
While water companies are allowed to discharge untreated or partly treated sewage into waterways, they are only allowed to do so during exceptional periods of heavy rain.
Mr Hammond said: “There are regulations and permits governing what water companies are allowed to do,” but claimed, “there were many instances where they were breaching permits, which the Environment Agency considers illegal.
“They were underreporting their spills of untreated sewage. That influences their financial negotiations with Ofwat when they determine price increases or refunds for customers depending on whether they have or haven’t performed up to standard.”
According to Leigh Day Solicitors, this is what each company may have to pay in compensation to its customers if the case against it succeeds:
- Thames Water: up to £159.1m may be paid to 11.46m customers
- Anglian Water: up to £69.5m may be paid to 4.8m customers
- Northumbrian Water: up to £225.1m may be paid to 2.06m customers
- Yorkshire Water: up to £390.9m may be paid to 3.85m customers
- United Utilities: up to £378m may be paid to 5.6m customers
- Severn Trent: up to £322.5m may be paid to 8.1m customers
Katy Colley, 48, of Hastings, East Sussex, teamed up with Julie Wassmer, of Whitstable, Essex, to launch the website boycottwaterbills.com, which she claims has united thousands of people boycotting payments from all 11 water companies in England and Wales in protest of their inadequate wastewater services.
Speaking to i about the amount of compensation the six water companies may have to pay, Ms Colley said: “It’s a staggering amount and I am in no doubt that the water companies owe it to the public.
“At the same time, this collective action could take years. It is a slow process and it only involves around half of the water companies providing wastewater services.
“This is an urgent matter,” Ms Colley added. “We want to empower everyone to feel like they can do something about this now.”
Ms Colley told i that her own boycott campaign is “gaining momentum literally by the hour” and she encouraged water customers to “take a stand to cancel their direct debits as this is completely legal and risk-free”.
This legal challenge comes as i is urging political parties to get behind its manifesto to Save Britain’s Rivers amid growing public anger over the amount sewage dumped into waterways across the nation.
The manifesto sets out five key pledges that include improving the health of rivers and reducing sewage spills.
Its aim is to force political action and stop UK rivers being used as open sewers, returning them to people and nature.
The Liberal Democrats and Green Party have both pledged to support i‘s blueprint to rescue rivers.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said “enough is enough,” vowing that the party “will have the most ambitious manifesto of any political party on cleaning up our rivers and coastlines”.
Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water declined to comment on the proceedings.
Northumbrian Water, United Utilities and Anglian Water were also contacted by i for a comment.
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