An acrimonious national debate about Britain’s private water companies intensified this week as the country’s environmental watchdog accused regulators of failing to comply with laws concerning sewage flowing into public waterways, a complaint that coincided with England’s largest water company asking for a cash bailout.
Three British public authorities failed to follow the law by being too lenient on water companies that have spilled sewage, according to an investigation by the watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection.
Water companies in England can legally discharge sewage in exceptional circumstances, like during heavy rains, but the growing level of spills has led residents to complain about polluted rivers and streams.
The environmental protection office, which began its investigation in June 2022, found that the authorities — the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency and the Water Services Regulation Authority, which is known as Ofwat — had failed to adequately regulate overflows in normal circumstances, too.
“The investigation is evidence of a failure of regulation,” said Helen Venn, the chief regulatory officer at the watchdog agency. “There have been spills in dry weather when there’s not been any rainfall at all.”
The Office for Environmental Protection said it could take the authorities to court if they failed to adequately fix the problems.
The investigation appears to be yielding results: The authorities said in statements they were making progress.
The report comes during a fraught week for the water industry. Representatives for Thames Water, the largest private water company in England, appeared in a London courtroom on Tuesday in an effort to borrow 3 billion pounds (or $3.8 billion). Protesters gathered outside the court to urge judges to block the bailout.
Thames Water has requested the financial lifeline to make improvements to infrastructure and meet their “environmental responsibilities.” The company declined to comment on the report on sewage spills or make executives available to discuss the loan request.
The request comes two days before the Ofwat shares its final decision on five-year investment plans for water companies in England and Wales, which will include the levels at which customer bills can be set.
“This will not only include unprecedented levels of investment but will see a significant increase in environmental performance targets,” Ofwat said in a statement.
An advocacy group, We Own It, said that the emergency bailout could cost Londoners an additional £250 a year. And public anger has been growing for years in Britain over rising water bills and sewage spills, which increased 54 percent from 2022 to 2023, government data released in March shows.
Some experts say the sewage spills are part of the broader failures of government oversight over the water companies, some of which were privatized during a sweep of Thatcher-era deregulation in the 1980s. In recent months, nationalization debates have intensified.
“Regulation has basically failed catastrophically,” Jamie Woodward, a professor of geography at the University of Manchester and an expert on water quality in Britain.
The sewage has sickened swimmers, damaged natural environments and even affected the storied Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race in March.
“The laws have been in place, but they just haven’t been applied,” Dr. Woodward said. “They haven’t been enforced.”
The authorities appear to making many of the steps recommended by the Office for Environmental Protection, said Ms. Venn. But “proving whether the law has been broken or not doesn’t solve the regulatory problem,” she added.
The authorities are set to reply to the watchdog before mid-February with their plans moving forward — and share whether or not they agree with its assessment.
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