The Environment Agency has today (July 13) released its annual report on the environmental performance of England’s nine water and sewerage companies.
While there were improvements in 2020, no single company achieved all the expectations for the period 2015 to 2020.
These included the reduction of total pollution incidents by at least one-third, compared with 2012, and for incident self-reporting to be at least 75%.
The sector coped well with Covid-19 pressures in 2020 and recently committed over £850 million to help contribute to a green recovery from the pandemic.
However, a number of companies are still failing to live up to their responsibilities to regulators, their customers and the environment.
Since 2011 the EA has used the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA), which rates each company in England from one star to four stars, for performance on environmental commitments such as pollution incidents and treatment work compliance.
Where these commitments are not achieved, companies will face underperformance penalties, with Ofwat having new powers to levy fines from 2020.
The report shows:
- Southern Water and South West Water were rated as two-star (requiring improvement);
- Anglian Water and Thames Water were rated as three-star (good);
- Five companies (Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent Water, United Utilities, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water) achieved four-star status, although certain improvements are still required;
- 2015-2020 expectations, including full compliance for waste water discharge permits and a 50% reduction in serious pollution incidents compared with 2012, have not been met;
- Severn Trent Water, United Utilities and Wessex Water sustained the highest level of performance for most of the last five years.
Serious pollution incidents declined for the second year in a row to the lowest number ever – but while there were 285 fewer total pollution incidents than in 2019, it was still the second highest number of total incidents since 2015.
Serious pollution incidents
Southern Water and South West Water both performed significantly below target for this metric, Southern Water for the second year in a row and South West Water for the tenth year in the row.
Both companies’ performances have been consistently unacceptable according to the Environment Agency.
Over half of serious incidents were also due to Anglian Water and Thames Water.
The results come the week after Southern Water was sentenced to pay a record-breaking £90 million fine after pleading guilty in court to 6971 unpermitted pollution discharges.
The successful Environment Agency investigation was the biggest the regulator has ever conducted, making clear that polluters will be made to pay for damage to the environment.
Earlier this year, Thames Water was also fined £4 million and £2.3 million for separate pollution incidents.
Environment Agency chair Emma Howard Boyd said:
“Over half the water sector is now achieving the highest industry rating, showing that clear targets and regulatory focus combined with investment in the environment delivers change in the water sector.
But, some companies are still failing in their duty to the environment and there remains a tendency to reach for excuses rather than grasp the nettle.
“As last week’s £90 million fine for Southern Water showed, environmental laws must not be undermined.
“I have been meeting water company chairs in the last few weeks to set out our expectations for them to redouble their efforts to improve or maintain their environmental performance, something which continues to be a priority for both customers and shareholders.”
