2023 saw record sewage spills into England’s rivers and seas

Water UK calls for urgent Ofwat approval to upgrade system to better cope with increased rainfall, citing plan to triple investment and cut spills by 40% by 2030

There were a record 3.6 million hours of sewage spills into England’s rivers and seas in 2023, more than double the 1.75 million hours in 2022. Environment Agency figures showed that there was a total of 464,056 discharges and each overflow recorded an average of 33 spills. The government’s target is less than 10 spills per year.

Helen Wakeham, Environment Agency Director of Water called the figures “disappointing but not surprising”. She said: “We are pleased to see record investment from the water sector, but we know it will take time for this to be reflected in spill data – it is a complex issue that won’t be solved overnight.  

“No other country has the level of monitoring we do. We are better placed than ever before to hold water companies accountable,” she said.

Water UK, the industry body for sewerage companies, said the figures were unacceptable. A spokesperson said: “These results demonstrate exactly why we urgently need regulatory approval to upgrade our system so it can better cope with the weather. We have a plan to sort this out by tripling investment which will cut spills by 40% by 2030 – more than double the government’s target.

“We now need Ofwat to give us the green light so that we can get on with it. The government should do its bit by delivering the 10 commitments it has previously made, which would eliminate tens of thousands of sewage spills.” 

“Water companies are dumping waste at whim and sticking two fingers up to every public health law that’s ever existed.”

Donna Rowe-Merriman, Head of Environment, UNISON described the sewage spillages as “a major health risk” and said they were causing “untold damage to wildlife and the environment”.

“Water companies are dumping waste at whim and sticking two fingers up to every public health law that’s ever existed. Both the government and Ofwat have failed to ensure adequate investment. Ministers sat back while water company executives and shareholders cashed in.”

Robbie Moore, Water Minister said that he has been clear that sewage pollution in English waters is unacceptable. He added that the government has announced a consultation to ban water bosses’ bonuses when criminal breaches have occurred, quadrupled company inspections for next year, fast-tracked £180m investment to cut spills and launched a whistleblowing portal for water company workers to report breaches.

However, Adrian Ramsay, Co-Leader, Green Party commented: “The situation cannot go on. The Green Party wants to see a halt to all dividend pay-outs to shareholders until these companies sort their sewage out and ultimately for the water supply to be brought back into public ownership at the earliest practicable opportunity. The industry cannot continue to be rewarded for failure."

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water pointed out that 2023 saw the highest level of rainfall since 2013. “All that rainfall ultimately means that our storm overflows discharged more than we would’ve liked.”

The spokesperson added: “We’ve been working hard to reduce discharges from our storm overflows. This work is due to finish by April 2025, and then we’ll be working on our programme of work between 2025 and 2030 to reduce discharges even further.”