3.6 million hours of sewage pumped into waterways as Ofwat fails to recoup hundreds of millions in fines

EMBARGO: Immediate Release 

The Government’s own data reveals that 3,614,428 hours of sewage was pumped into waterways last year. This comes after Ofwat fails to levy fines against disgraced water companies. The Liberal Democrats are calling for Ofwat to be replaced with a new regulator. 

Environment Agency data released today reveals water companies dumped sewage 450,398 times last year, lasting for 3,614,428 hours. That’s up from 2023 (3,604,471 hours) and a 106% increase compared to the total duration of spills in 2022 (1,754,921 hours). 

South West Water was the worst offender for duration of spills, with 544,439 hours worth and 56,173 spills last year. The worst offender for the number of spills was United Utilities water company with 77,817 sewage spills last year lasting 450,778 hours. United Utilities serves over seven million customers. South West Water and United Utilities are among the list of companies Ofwat has brought enforcement cases against to investigate poor environmental performance and pollution from storm overflow spills. 

In response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by the Liberal Democrats, water regulator Ofwat revealed “we have not currently issued fines” for any of the enforcement cases they brought against water companies - dating back to 2019. This is despite Ofwat recommending penalties of £104m for Thames Water, £47m for Yorkshire Water and £17m for Northumbrian Water back in August 2024. That’s £168m in fines Ofwat has failed to recoup from polluting water companies. 

Ofwat admitted to spending £244,106 on external advice for these investigations which have so far resulted in no fines. Ofwat also admitted that they are “currently recruiting to reflect growth in Ofwat's investigations activity”, with only 9 full time equivalent (FTE) members of staff allocated to the investigations, spread across 17 staff members. Six months ago, Ofwat responded to another FOI submitted by the Lib Dems about Ofwat’s overarching investigation into all wastewater companies in England and Wales, which stated that 8.5 FTE members of staff had been allocated to the investigation and that Ofwat was “in the process of recruiting further staff”. This means that in the six months since, Ofwat has only increased their capacity for investigations by the equivalent of half a staff member, despite their reported recruitment drive. 

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the government to replace Ofwat with a new regulator with proper enforcement powers to hold water companies accountable and put a stop to the sewage scandal.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“This has to be the final nail in the coffin for Ofwat, a regulator that has time and again proven it is completely inadequate to protect customers and our beautiful environment. 

“The Government should act now to get a new regulator in place to protect British rivers and seas from being pumped with disgusting sewage. It’s time for Ofwat to go. 

“The Liberal Democrats have spearheaded the campaign to protect our rivers and beaches, and we will continue to fight for much tougher regulation of a water industry which is profiting from pollution.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

• Ofwat’s enforcement cases concern unpermitted releases of sewage by water companies and investigate potential breaches of statutory and licence obligations. For more information about what these conditions are, see Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Storm overflows: policy and guidance
• Data recently obtained by The i Paper revealed that water companies illegally breached their permits 3,128 times last year.
• Liberal Democrat FOI response from Ofwat, September 2024
• Liberal Democrat FOI response from Ofwat, March 2025

Environment Agency Data, Event Duration Monitoring - Storm Overflows - Annual Returns