This is a question that keeps coming up in forums, news articles and frankly, most conversations in the water industry, among the public, water companies, and their supply chain.
Britain’s water industry is currently facing scrutiny, from raw sewage discharges to record fines and calls for structural reform, the problem has moved beyond environmental concerns to a question of public trust and system accountability.
So how did we get here, and what will it take to fix it?
Why is UK water so polluted?
One of the main points of the crisis is untreated or poorly treated sewage entering Britain’s rivers, lakes, and coastlines. In 2024 alone, the Environment Agency recorded 75 serious pollution incidents, a 60% increase on the previous year. The overwhelming majority of these were linked to wastewater assets, with sewerage infrastructure responsible for 88% of all reported incidents.
Despite regulatory targets aiming to reduce pollution by 40% compared to the number of incidents in 2016, the industry has instead recorded a 47% increase. For all the talk of progress, the core issues remain the same
- Aging infrastructure - Many pollution incidents have stemmed from deteriorating or poorly maintained sewerage assets, these include foul sewers, sewage treatment works and rising mains.
- Inconsistent reporting - Whilst self-reporting numbers are high, there have been low levels of reports for serious pollution which delays action and masks the scale of the problem.
- Non-compliance and weak accountability - Permit violations have risen but enforcement has often been slow or ineffective.
- Inadequate planning -Climate change, urban growth and system resilience are not being adequately planned for, with Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs), which were intended to address long-term system health not scheduled to be finalised until 2028.
Several companies are now under intense scrutiny and enforcement action is ranging from increased inspections to financial penalties. The message from the UK government and regulators is clear: fix the system or face the consequences.
How are UK water companies regulated?
The Environment Agency conducted 4,000 inspections in 2024/25 and plans to increase this to 10,000 in 2025/26. The Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 has introduced new mechanisms to hold under performing companies to account which includes bans on executive bonuses where standards aren’t met.
At the same time, the industry is being asked to produce and publish annual Pollution Incident Reduction Plans (PIRPs) and demonstrate how they’re applying lessons from investigations across their networks.
It marks a shift from reactive penalties to proactive expectation-setting. But enforcement alone won’t solve the problem.
How is the UK water industry investing in pollution reduction?
The sector is investing. PR24 outlines a £20 billion base budget for wastewater between 2025 and 2030, with total wastewater investment projected to reach £46 billion. On paper, this is a welcome sign, but investment isn’t the same as impact.
As long as serious pollution incidents continue to rise, questions will be asked about how funds are allocated and how performance is measured with outcomes needing to be verified. For some companies, poor maintenance remains the leading root cause of pollution.
How are UK water companies reducing pollution and improving performance?
There are some signs of positive change. Self-reporting of incidents has improved, with 85% of category 3-4 pollution events reported by companies themselves (the highest level to date).
Technology is playing a big role, with several companies implementing smarter data sharing and the using digital investigation tools. Whilst the use of these tools is promising, consistent processes and clear accountability are essential, and leadership needs to show that they are prioritising long term resilience rather than quick fixes.
The industry has also been encouraged to adopt more structured investigation frameworks to help improve the quality and consistency of investigations. It’s important that all companies involved move beyond looking only at what went wrong, but focus on understanding why the incident happened and how they can put the right actions in place to prevent the same issues happening again.
A watershed moment for the UK’s water industry
The resolution ofthis crisis will depend on what happens behind the scenes. It will take strong leadership, honest reporting, and continuous improvement to keep on top of emerging risks.
As work continues across the industry to eliminate repeat failures and embed stronger practices, a real opportunity to reshape the future is emerging.
If you are keen to learn more about how COMET can help, you can start by visiting the following links:
- £168m in sewage leak fines highlight the potentially critical role of AI in environmental incident prevention | Read the blog
- Want to bring a digital edge to your investigations? Uncover real causes, take confident action and eliminate repeat failure | COMET Investigate & RCA
- Streamline the full lifecycle of your incidents to prevent repeat failure | COMET Incident Management
- Apply analysis logic to your audits and inspections to transform how your organisation detects risk | COMET Audits and Inspections
- Apply AI Machine Learning to your HSEQ data to provide insight to unseen risk | COMET Signals
- A platform built to effectively manage and evaluate risks in your supply chain | COMET Supply Chain
If you are ready to explore the COMET platform:
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