Dry weather brought 19% fall in 2022 storm spills says Environment Agency

There was a 19% reduction in the number of storm overflow discharges in England in 2022, down from 372,533 in 2021 to 301,091 last year.

Among other improvements reported by the Environment Agency (EA) were that in 2022:

• The average number of spills per storm overflow was 23, compared to 29 in 2021.

• 3% of storm overflows spilled more than 100 times, compared to 5% in 2021.

• 18% of storm overflows did not spill at all, compared to 13% in 2021.

Event duration monitoring data was returned from 13,323 storm overflows during 2022 – with the duration and frequency of sewage spills now monitored at 91% of storm overflows across the country, up from 89%.

The EA stressed that the decrease, to an average 825 discharges a day, was chiefly a result of last year’s dry weather. Executive Director John Leyland said: “The decrease in spills in 2022 is largely down to dry weather, not water company action. We want to see quicker progress from water companies on reducing spills and acting on monitoring data. We expect them to be fully across the detail of their networks and to maintain and invest in them to the high standard that the public expect and the regulator demands.”

Mark Lloyd, chief executive of The Rivers Trust, called the data “distressing” but welcomed the EA’s “robust response to the data and hope that the promised regulatory action and enforcement will happen before it’s too late to save our precious river habitats”.

A Water UK spokesperson said: “This is an important milestone and the fourth consecutive year we have seen a fall in the number of spills from each storm overflow…There remains much more to be done, and there will be bumps in the road, but companies are committed to building on this positive news to ensure we play our role in bringing about the transformation we all want to see.”

The data has had considerable fallout, including calls for environment secretary Therese Coffey to resign.

• Scottish Water has published historical data for reported overflow spills covering the period 2018-2022, as part of its commitment to greater transparency on improving urban waters.

Data available HERE.