England’s water companies get worst ever score over pollution
England’s water companies have achieved their worst combined score on record for environmental performance in 2024, the Environment Agency has said.
All but one of England’s nine water and sewerage companies have been classified as ‘requires improvement’ – or worse – by the EA, in a year when serious pollution incidents increased by 60% compared to 2023.
Thames Water – the UK’s largest water company – received the lowest rating, one star.
Industry body Water UK acknowledged that “the performance of some companies is not good enough” but highlighted investments made since last year.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “Transforming Thames is a major program of work which will take time; it will take at least a decade to achieve the scale of change required. »
And Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds admitted: “We are facing a water system failure that has left our infrastructure collapsing and sewage flowing into our rivers.
“We are taking decisive action to address this, including new powers to ban unfair bonuses and swift financial penalties for environmental infractions,” she added.
In the foreword to the report, EA Chairman Alan Lovell wrote: “Many businesses tell us how focused they are on improving the environment. But the results are not visible in the data. »
The collective rating of the nine companies given by the EA for 2024 was 19 stars, compared to 25 stars in 2023. No year had previously received fewer than 22 stars.
Only Severn Trent got the top rating of four stars. Everyone else got two stars – “needs improvement” – except Thames who got one star for “poor” performance.
Thames Water – the UK’s largest water company – is mired in financial difficulties. It reported a loss of £1.65 billion for the year ending in March, while its debt load soared to £16.8 billion.
“We know we still need to get better for our customers, our communities and the environment, and that is why we have embarked on the largest ever investment programme, delivering the biggest upgrade to our network in 150 years,” the Thames spokesperson added.
Every year since 2011, each of England’s nine water companies has received a rating for their environmental performance. Only seven one-star ratings have ever been given.
The EA says its assessment criteria have been tightened over time, so its ratings “do not mean performance has declined since 2011” and that it has seen “some improvement” through to 2023.
“This year’s results are poor and must serve as a clear and urgent signal for change,” Mr Lovell said.
In a separate report on businesses in England and Wales, economic regulator Ofwat described the performance of the different measures as “mixed”.
He acknowledged progress in some areas, such as flooding of internal sewers, but said “there remain areas where business and the sector need to do more”, including pollution and supply disruptions for some.
In response, James Wallace, chief executive of campaign group River Action UK, said: “Today’s report shows that water companies in England and Wales are still underperforming, particularly when it comes to serious pollution incidents, revealing the bankruptcy of the water privatization model.
“We urgently need a complete overhaul of this broken system to ensure bill payers receive a fair service and our rivers are properly protected from pollution.”
The EA attributed last year’s environmental performance to three factors: wet and stormy weather, long-standing underinvestment in infrastructure and increased monitoring and inspection “highlighting more failings”.
Starting in 2027, the EA will replace its current star rating with a new system – a scale of one to five, from “fail” to “excellent”.
The government says this will give a more accurate reflection of performance, with businesses unable to achieve the top rating unless they “achieve the highest standards in all areas”.
The water industry faces growing anger from customers and activists over rising bills and repeated wastewater spills.
The Environment Agency reported in July that “serious” pollution incidents had increased by 60% in 2024 compared to 2023.
And in April, bills rose by an average of 26% in England and Wales, after economic regulator Ofwat approved the water company’s plans for billions of pounds of investment.
Bills will continue to rise through 2030 to help improve water supplies and reduce the amount of wastewater dumped.
Earlier this year the government announced that Ofwat would be abolished and replaced by a single regulator.
This followed a landmark review of the “failing” water sector in England and Wales, which recommended tougher regulation to hold water companies to account. He warned that there would be no silver bullet to improve the condition of our rivers or reduce bills.
Responding to today’s EA report, Mike Keil, chief executive of the Water Consumers Council, said: “Customers are now paying more than ever through their water bills and they expect to see companies deliver on their promises to reduce pollution and help breathe life back into rivers, lakes and wildlife habitats.
“If the industry fails to deliver on its promises, the damage to public trust – which is already at an all-time low – could be irreparable,” he added.
Additional reporting by Jonah Fisher
