Bill payers are suing six of the UK’s biggest water companies for £1.5bn over sewage discharges in one of the biggest legal battles of its kind,discharges they have made into canals and rivers, allowing them to charge customers more than they would had they reported an accurate number.
Environment agency data shows that these six firms dumped sewage over 330,000 times for 2.4 million hours last year, with the largest number of spills recorded along thein 2023 that they “don’t want to come to Shrewsbury any more” because they are fed up of catching “According to Mr Hammond, his findings revealed that water companies across the country “were underreporting their spills of untreated sewage”.
Water companies must report sewage discharges to Ofwat, the regulator. Ofwat takes these spills into account when deciding the prices companies are able to charge – with prices lowered if targets are not met. Professor Carolyn Roberts hopes that the vast damages water companies may have to pay will ‘persuade them to change their behaviour’
While water companies are allowed to discharge untreated or partly treated sewage into waterways, they are only allowed to do so during exceptional periods of heavy rain.