Environment Agency says ‘consistently poor performance’ from Southern Water following pollution report

A new report by the Environment Agency says water company pollution incidents across England rose sharply last year.

The report shows consistently poor performance from Southern Water and other water and sewerage companies, with serious pollution incidents in 2024 up 60% from 2023.

The Environment Agency assesses all pollution incidents, with category 1 (major) and category 2 (significant) incidents being the most serious. In 2024, 75 category 1 and 2 incidents were recorded, a steep rise from 47 serious incidents the previous year.

Most of these serious incidents – 81% – were the responsibility of three water companies – Thames Water (33 incidents), Southern Water (15 incidents) and Yorkshire Water (13 incidents). All pollution incidents (category 1 to 3) have increased by 29%: last year water companies recorded 2,801 incidents, up from 2,174 in 2023.

Southern Water was responsible for two more serious incidents than the previous year – and all its pollution incidents (category 1 to 3) increased by 32%.

The Environment Agency says reasons behind the results include persistent underinvestment in new infrastructure, poor asset maintenance, and reduced resilience due to the impacts of climate change.

Inspections

Environment Agency officers carried out 339 inspections of Southern Water permitted wastewater sites last year. Issues from these inspections are raised with the water company so it can focus on improving its assets and operations and fulfil its obligations to customers and the environment.

‘Failing’

Simon Moody, Environment Agency Area Director, said:  “Southern Water forecast three serious pollutions in its pollution incident reduction plan last year but ended up being responsible for five times that number.

“They are failing to meet their own expectations let alone ours as a regulator or the public’s who pay their water bills and expect good service with no environmental harm.

“We are pushing Southern Water hard to change. Our vastly increased inspection regime has started to identify and tackle the many problems at Southern Water sites.

“We continue to hold them to account when they cause pollution or fail to address areas in urgent need of improvement.”

The Environment Agency has a national goal to see 10,000 inspections done by April 2026. That means officers plan to more than double last year’s target number of inspections of Southern Water sites and assets.

With more inspections, the Environment Agency discovers more sector non-compliance. The Environment Agency says factors, including wet weather, can’t excuse the unacceptable number of incidents last year.

New legislation

Under the Water (Special Measures) Act, the Environment Agency now has greater powers to take action against polluting companies. It grants Ofwat new powers to prohibit the payment of performance related pay awarded to water bosses if they fail to meet certain standards, including on the Environment.

Southern Water says last year was another extremely wet and stormy winter which saw groundwater reach record levels, putting extra pressure on the sewer network.

The company adds that geographically, pollutions carry a greater risk (more likely to have higher category ratings) than other areas of the UK due to the region having more National Parks, SSSIs and bathing waters than others.

John Penicud, Southern Water’s Managing Director for Wastewater, said: “Any pollution incident is completely unacceptable. Under new management, Southern Water has reduced the overall number of wastewater pollutions by around 40% to the end of 2024 and is on track to extend this reduction to as much as 70% by the end of this year.

“We know we have a long way to go to cut out pollutions completely. It’s still the case, though, that the majority of wastewater pollutions are caused by wet wipes, fats, oils and grease being flushed down toilets and sinks. Banning the wet wipe remains the single biggest step needed to put a stop to pollutions — which everybody wants to see.”

Southern Water says that since 2020 it invested more than £28 million in Thanet wastewater sites – including a significant pump replacement project for Margate and Broadstairs, repairs to the major sewer between Margate and Weatherlees, and a Thanet-wide sewer upgrade scheme.

Southern Water plans to spend a further £47 million over the next ten years in the area.

To report sightings of pollution incidents or other impacts on the environment call the 24-hour incident hotline: 0800 807060.