Two firms cause no serious pollutions in 2024 as three account for 61

Northumbrian Water and Wessex Water were the only two companies not to cause any serious pollution incidents in 2024 – and in Northumbrian’s case, not since 2022 (see table).

That – and an increase in self-reporting – were rare bits of positive news in an otherwise condemnatory one-off report published by the Environment Agency on Friday, detailing pollution trends between 2016 and 2024.

The headline was that serious incidents (category 1 and 2) rose by 60% from 47 to 75 between 2023 and 2024, albeit 81% of these were from only three firms: Thames, Southern and Yorkshire. The Agency said serious incident numbers had been “unacceptably high” throughout the period, and in 2024 were 32% higher than in 2016.

The all-incident (categories 1-3) number was up 29% from 2,174 in 2023 to 2,801 in 2024, with only South West Water seeing a drop from last year.

The EA said the sector was failing to meet its Water Industry Strategic Environmental Requirements performance expectations. It said the reasons behind the 2024 results included persistent underinvestment in new infrastructure, poor asset maintenance, and reduced resilience due to the impacts of climate change.

More positively, 85% of incidents were self-reported in 2024, the highest rate ever. The best performing companies for all incident self-reporting were Wessex Water (92%) followed by Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent Water, United Utilities (all 90%). Disappointingly, however, only four of 2024’s 11 category 1 incidents were self-reported.

The Environmental Performance Assessment data, which covers a wider set of metrics, will be out in October this year. A new appeals process has been introduced which has delayed the usual summer timing.