England’s water and sewerage companies have received something of a mixed review in terms of environmental performance in the Environment Agency’s recent annual report on the topic, released on 2 October.
The report said the number of serious water quality pollution incidents from water company sewerage and clean water assets had “plateaued”, with a slight improvement (52 incidents compared to 56 in 2018). But the total number of pollution incidents had increased.
The report also rated utilities on a scale from 1 star to 4 stars, in tems of how well they are doing on things like serious pollution incidents and compliance with permits.
It found that:
• Severn Trent and Wessex Water achieved the highest level of performance with 4 star (industry leading)
• Thames, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water are rated as 3 star (good)
• Anglian, Northumbrian and South West Water are rated as 2 star (requiring improvement)
• Southern Water is the first company to be rated as1 star (poor) since 2015
Environment Agency chair Emma Howard Boyd said: “We cannot transform water quality in the way we all want if water companies’ environmental performance continues to backslide.”
A statement said both the Environment Secretary George Eustice and Howard Boyd would be holding meetings with underperforming companies to discuss improvements.
A number of other measures are also in the offing. The EA has requested all water firms develop Pollution Incident Reduction Plans (PIRPs), to make a dent in the number of incident occurring between now and the end of the year – to be monitored and scrutinised by the EA.
This is in addition to the ongoing programme of issuing penalties to offending firms – the agency has fined water firms £34 million in the last five years (44 prosecutions in total).
A new taskforce, the Storm Overflows Taskforce, also came into existence earlier this year, which aims to set out proposals to further reduce the volumes of sewage discharged into waterways. It is a joint initiative operated by Defra, the EA, Ofwat and Water UK.
Commenting on the report, Water UK Chief Executive Christine McGourty said:
“Over the last decade, water companies have taken significant steps forward in tackling pollution in our rivers and waterways, with excellent results in many areas and some companies achieving the highest levels of performance. And the whole industry is determined to do more.
“There are examples of stand-out performance in the data now published for the last 12 months, with some achieving four-star environmental performance and the majority of companies rated as good or better. Across the industry serious pollution incidents have fallen by 90% since the 1990s.
“But the data shows there is work to be done, and in an industry that’s committed to the highest environmental standards, water companies will be doubling efforts to share the very best practice, collaborate, innovate and work with all those involved to bring about continued improvements for the environment and our customers.”
