The latest reports from the Environment Agency on environmental performance show that pollution incidents from water companies operating mainly in England are falling while the quality of the water environment continues to rise.
In 2015, 65% of all serious pollution incidents affected the water environment, while 19% affected air and 21% affected land. The water environment is consistently affected by the highest numbers of serious pollution incidents.
Containment and control failures on farms were the single largest cause of incidents affecting water (54 incidents) followed by those associated with the water industry (46 incidents). Farming was responsible for 81 incidents, and the water industry 62 incidents.
In 2015, the top 5 industry sectors causing pollution incidents were:
Commenting on the results, Harvey Bradshaw, Executive Director Environment and Business at the Agency said:
“This report highlights some significant improvements in the environmental performance of regulated businesses – which directly benefits people, the environment and the economy. Over the longer term these trends have been significant, and will provide a lasting legacy to the environment, as well as real financial savings to businesses.”
“The sites we regulated caused less serious pollution incidents, less air emissions and we closed almost 1,000 illegal waste sites. The Environment Agency will continue to take swift action to protect the environment, raise standards of poor performers and use new techniques to disrupt illegal activity.”
“We urge businesses to do even more, in some sectors pollution is still having an impact on our air, land and water and the Environment Agency will continue to work with industry groups to encourage good practice.”
According to Water UK, the water industry is committed to improving the quality of waters around the UK. Between 1990 and 2020, the industry will have invested around £25 billion in environmental work. This dedication has led to significant reductions in pollution incidents, with the Environment Agency reporting a 50% reduction in phosphorus load discharged, and 23% decrease in biological oxygen demand load from sewage treatment works since 2000.
Such improvements have seen protection or improvements to 15,000km of rivers in the UK since 1995. The most recent EA results on bathing waters also show that 95.4% of UK waters met the required standard, while 60% met the excellent standard.
Despite these positive results, the water sector continues to face a wide range of complex challenges and is working to secure the long-term resilience of water and sewerage supplies.
If you are interested in seeing more about how water companies are performing, take a look at Discover Water, the industry’s information dashboard.
Links to Environment Agency reports:
Business environmental performance
Regulating for people, environment and growth: 2015 evidence summary
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