UK water companies offer apology and £10bn investment for sewage spills
Water companies have apologised for repeated sewage spills and pledged to invest £10bn this decade in an attempt to quell public anger over pollution in seas and rivers.
The companies will triple their existing investment plans to plough funds into the biggest modernisation of sewers “since the Victorian era” to reduce spills of overflowing sewage into England’s waterways.
Industry body Water UK said the plans will cut the number of overflow incidents by up to 140,000 each year by 2030, compared with 2020.
Environment Agency figures earlier this year showed there were a total of 301,091 sewage spills in 2022, an average of 824 a day.
The spending on more than 350,000 miles of sewer comes on top of the current £3.1bn being spent between 2020 and 2025.
Shareholders in water companies will initially fund the investments. However, the costs will be recouped from customers through unspecified increases in their bills determined by regulators, in a move which threatens to add further pressure to household costs.
The investment will see new facilities built to hold surges in rainwater, increased capacity for sewage treatment works, measures to reduce rainfall entering sewers and fixing misconnected pipes from properties.
An online hub will launch next year, giving the public almost live information on overflows and the state of rivers and coastal waters. The companies also pledged to support up to 100 communities in creating new protected water for swimming.
The move comes after intense criticism of water companies from politicians and campaigners.
Water UK, which represents 25 companies across the UK, issued an apology and said the public was “right to be upset about the current quality of our rivers and beaches”.
There have been calls
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