Water Companies In England Manipulated Sewage Tests, Report Finds

The Environment Agency is closing a loophole that allows for misleading reporting by water companies

3rd November 2024

2 Minutes Read

Water companies have claimed to have passed pollution tests despite never having carried out the tests at all, reports the Observer. The self-monitoring system overseen by the Environment Agency has allowed companies to record compliance with environmental regulations at sewage plants even though they were still discharging untreated sewage into waterways.

Thousands of tests that water companies said they had done on water quality did not actually take place, the report says. The companies reported these as “no-flows,” which is when effluent is not being discharged at the time of sampling. The Environment Agency has now moved to shut down the loophole that let water companies get away with falsely reporting compliance by the new year.

Southern Water has previously been charged millions in fines for misreporting no-flows. After it was investigated by regulators, the number of no-flows it recorded dropped dramatically.

The UK’s water pollution scandal

cows by a river — Adobe Stock Agricultural pollution affects even more of UK waterways than sewage discharge

Raw sewage being discharged into the UK’s waterways is an ongoing national problem. While water companies are permitted to discharge untreated sewage during heavy rain, the practice has become routine. In 2023, there were more than half a million incidents of raw sewage discharge into waterways around the UK.

Water companies that discharge sewage regularly can still be viewed as having a high environmental performance based on metrics used to rank them by the Environment Agency. Company bosses received massive bonuses linked to environmental performance. Campaigners are calling for them to lose the bonuses if their companies are found to be causing pollution.

Raw sewage discharges by water companies affects 36 percent of British waterways, second only t o pollution caused by agricultural run off. Animal manure and synthetic fertilizers spread on fields leach into 40 percent of waterways, causing massive ecological harm.