Nearly 470 sewage discharges have been reported across England over the past 24 hours.
More spills are expected after the Met Office issued yellow weather warnings for rain covering north-west and south-west England, Wales and south-west Scotland on Sunday.
Of the 468 sewage discharges reported since Friday afternoon, 188 remained active at the time of writing.
Meanwhile, hundreds of sewage monitors were either inactive or had not been updated over the past 24 hours, meaning the actual number of discharges may be a lot higher.
The highest number of sewage discharges was reported by Southern Water (98), which covers Kent, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, along with East and West Sussex.
This was followed by Severn Trent (73), whose regions spans from the Bristol Channel to the Humber and from mid-Wales to the East Midlands.
United Utilities, whose region includes Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, most of Cheshire and a small area of Derbyshire, also reported 73 discharges.
Ash Smith, founder of the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution campaign group, said: “Water companies have become reliant on being able to pollute illegally and one of the most common and easily recognised illegal events are those in dry conditions.
“However, routinely breaking the law in plain sight, and even being investigated, let alone prosecuted by the Environment Agency are two very different and very unlikely things, which is why illegal pollution is such an attractive and therefore, common, commercial activity.
“Water companies have become reliant on being able to pollute illegally and get away with it.
“The Environment Agency and Ofwat have both been asleep at the wheel and while they have been forced to wake up, it has now become clear that they don’t actually know how to drive. Water companies are running rings around them both.
“Water companies and regulators used to claim, and sometimes still do, that untreated sewage is only dumped due to heavy rainfall to stop it backing up into people’s houses. Campaigners proved that was lie but they still do it as the companies and regulators grasp for more excuses to try to justify what is simply pollution for profit.”
Matthew Topham, Lead Campaigner at We Own It, which campaigns to bring water companies under public ownership, said: “In the last 24 hours, there have been 460 sewage discharges across the country. Some in areas with very little rainfall. This damages natural habitats and pollutes the rivers and seas that our children swim in.
“There is no law of nature that says it has to be like this. The reason for this is chronic long-term underinvestment in the infrastructure that delivers our most precious resource.
“Money that should have been spent on fixing leaking pipes has been diverted into executives’ and shareholders’ pockets. Over £72bn has been lost to shareholder dividends in the 35 years since privatisation.
“There is a reason 9 out of 10 countries have publicly owned water – it works. 82 per cent of the British public want our water in public ownership. I think it’s time the Government started listening to the public on this.”
A Government spokesperson said: “For too long, water companies have pumped record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.“This Government has wasted no time in placing water companies under special measures through the Water Bill, which includes new powers to ban the payment of bonusses for polluting water bosses and bring criminal charges against lawbreakers.
“We’re also carrying out a full review of the water sector to shape further legislation that will transform how our water system works and clean up our waterways for good.”
Water companies are allowed to discharge sewage during exceptionally wet periods to prevent their systems from being overwhelmed, but concerns have been raised over how often this has been happening.
The regulator Ofwat has permitted water companies in England and Wales to increase their bills by an average of £31 per year between 2025 and 2030, enabling them to gather the funds needed to upgrade their crumbling infrastructure and improve customer service.
A Water UK spokesperson said the bill hikes will allow companies to spend more than ever on “the natural environment and will help to support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers and seas”.
However, Thames Water has since appealed to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to raise bills higher than the 35 per cent previously approved by Ofwat between 2025 and 2030.
Burdened by £19.5bn in debt, the company also won a High Court battle on Tuesday to secure a £3bn loan.
It will first receive a tranche of £1.5bn, keeping it afloat until September 2025.
If the CMA approves its appeal, the company, which serves 16 million customers across London and South East England, will be able to receive two further tranches of £750m each to further extend liquidity to May 2026.
Thames Water was followed by five other water companies – Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, South East Water and Wessex Water – which also appealed Ofwat’s approved bill rises.
In December, an investigation by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) found that Ofwat, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency (EA) had all failed to stop water companies from discharging sewage into England’s waterways when it was not raining heavily.
The watchdog threatened to take all the bodies to court if they do not set out the steps they will take “to put matters right” in the next two months.
An Ofwat spokesperson said: “We have pushed companies to take urgent action to cut sewage discharges and we expect companies to be carrying out their duties to treat the flows of wastewater that they would typically receive in all normal local weather conditions, limit pollution from storm overflows and minimise the negative impacts of any discharges of wastewater on the environment.
“To support companies in taking steps forward, we approved almost £12bn of investment to cutting spills from storm overflows by 45 per cent by 2030. This package will deliver environmental enhancements and secure supplies in the future.
“However, where companies do not step up and meet the challenges expected of them, we have an ongoing enforcement investigation into all wastewater companies in which we have already announced a proposed penalty of £168m against three companies.”
The three companies Ofwat fined are Thames Water (£104m), Yorkshire Water (£47m) and Northumbrian Water (£17m).
The i Paper has revealed that hundreds of sewage spills were downgraded in seriousness last year by the EA without explanation.
A total of 1,849 sewage pollution incidents that were initially categorised as having a “significant environmental impact” were later downgraded to having “no impact”, according to data obtained by freedom of information laws.
Campaigning group 38 Degrees, which obtained the information, said the figures revealed a “glaring accountability gap”, which risks allowing companies to “cash in” on bonuses for environmental performance.
The Labour Government’s new Water (Special Measures) Bill will introduce harsher penalties for law-breaking wastewater firms, with executives who fail to cooperate or interfere with investigations facing prison sentences of up to two years.
The bill will also allow the EA to impose “severe penalties” more quickly, without needing to direct significant resources to lengthy investigations, for offences related to pollution.
Water UK, the industry representative, has been contacted for a comment. Southern Water, United Utilities, and Severn Trent have also been approached for comment.
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