Water firms under pressure as serious pollution cases up 60%

ENGLAND'S embattled water companies have chalked up their worst environmental performance on record, with serious pollution incidents up 60% last year.

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The Environment Agency called for a fundamental shift in culture and behaviour from English water firms in the light of “poor” results across the sector.

The regulator, which rates water firms annually on a one to four star basis, said only Severn Trent scored the top four-star rating on its performance in areas including pollution, sewage and improving the environment.

Overall, the nine companies collectively achieved just 19 stars out of a possible 36 in 2024, down from the 25 in 2023 and the lowest since the process started in 2011.

Beleaguered Thames Water, which is beset by financial problems, was alone in scoring the worst rating of just one star, as it saw serious pollution incidents more than double to 33 cases last year.

The rest of the companies only managed two stars, the report showed.