The Environment Agency (EA) has published its annual report on the environmental performance of England’s nine water and sewerage companies during 2023. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has published a similar report for Welsh companies.
The EA report shows an improvement in star ratings under the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA), but the majority of companies continue to underperform.
This year, five water companies are rated as requiring improvement (2 stars), one company is rated as good (3 stars) and three companies achieved 4 stars.
- Severn Trent Water – 4 stars, the same as the previous year
- United Utilities – 4 stars, up from 3 stars
- Wessex Water – 4 stars, up from 2 stars
- Northumbrian Water – 3 stars, the same as the previous year
- Anglian Water – 2 stars, the same as the previous year
- Southern Water – 2 stars, the same as the previous year
- South West Water – 2 stars, the same as the previous year
- Thames Water – 2 stars, the same as the previous year
- Yorkshire Water –2 stars, down from 3 stars
In response to the report findings, the EA has set out further plans to transform its regulation of the water industry.
This year’s report also found that:
- The number of serious pollution incidents increased from 44 in 2022 to 47 in 2023, remaining unacceptably high despite expectation to trend towards zero. Over 90% of these were caused by four companies (Anglian Water, Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water), resulting in a polarised performance picture across the sector.
- Total pollution incidents from sewerage and water supply assets increased to 2,174 – the second consecutive annual increase and highest number recorded since 2019.
- Compliance with numeric permit conditions for discharging treated wastewater is not improving, with 45 sites found to be non-compliant.
NRW highlighted a further decline in Dŵr Cymru performance, with the company staying at two-star status whilst the number of serious pollution events rose during 2023.