Water Companies Apologise for Sewage Spills, Announce £10 Billion Modernisation Plan

A combined sewer overflow pipe on Ryde beach on the Isle of Wight, which has suffered from sewage pollution in recent years, on March 30, 2023. (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

Water and sewage companies in England have apologised for sewage spills in rivers and seas and announced the biggest modernisation of sewers since the Victorian era.

The upgrade of the sewage system will cost £10 billion in the next 10 years, announced Water UK, a membership body representing the UK water industry.

To make amends for the spills of untreated sewage onto beaches and into rivers over the past few years, Water UK plans to make the largest ever investment in storm overflows. The aim is to cut sewage overflows by up to 140,000 each year by 2030 compared to the level in 2020.

A total of 384,568 of sewage spills were counted in 2022 by The Rivers Trust.

“We are saying sorry because we get why people are upset and they’re right that we should have given this issue much more attention. We should have acted faster to recognise the impact of sewage spills on people’s enjoyment of rivers and beaches,” Water UK said in a statement.

The apology comes amid criticism of UK water and sewage companies for polluting rivers and seas, while planning to hike water bills paid by consumers.

Labour Party MPs John McDonnell and Diane Abbott both condemned private companies expecting customers to foot the bill, in light of the £10 billion investment plan.

Chair of Water UK Ruth Kelly said the industry body is “asking shareholders to put down a huge down payment” to start fixing the sewage spills.

“The way the system works is that over the lifetime of the assets, customers do pay that money back in modest increases in their bills. Over the last 10 years, I think it’s important to remember, that real water bills have fallen for average customers,” she added.

The CEOs of all water companies agreed to “not pay a single penny” in bonuses in 2023, while some plan to waive bonuses entirely, said Kelly.

Britain’s water and sewage companies paid £1.4 billion in dividends in 2022, up from £540 million the previous year, according to the Financial Times.

In March 2022, the government backed new plans for the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) to take action against water companies that pay out dividends to their shareholders despite failing to meet the required performance standards.

Licensing

The water industry commitment announced on May 18 includes a transformation programme across 350,000 miles of sewers and the launch of a public hub with up-to-date information on the operation of all 15,000 sewage overflows in England. The companies also plan help up to 100 communities interested in protecting rivers and other outdoor areas of water for the purpose of swimming and recreation.

Water companies confirmed their readiness to deliver the ambition set out in the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, the largest infrastructure programme in water company history to include £56 billion capital investment over 25 years.

The Water UK statement comes one week after Ofwat announced plans to introduce new regulatory requirements for water companies.

Ofwat expects to see “high standards of customer service” and has put in place a new licence condition for each water company in England and Wales. The Environment Act 2021 gave Ofwat new powers to change water company licences without consent from water companies.

The proposed license changes will mean companies need to ensure customers are well-informed, can rely on the company to “put it right” if something goes wrong, and that the full diversity of customers’ needs are met.

“In England and Wales, households are not able to choose their water company, so it is crucial that good customer service is not a postcode lottery. We want the powers to enforce that fundamental expectation,” Ofwat CEO David Black said in a statement.

Where Ofwat sees companies letting their customers down, it can use these powers to “step in and take action.”

The consultation on the new regulatory powers closes on July 7, and Ofwat will publish the licence change in the autumn.