Aylesbury's provider Thames Water has joint-worst pollution rating in UK, new data uncovers

Data from the Government agency showed that Thames Water, which is the provider for the Aylesbury area, was the joint worst company for pollution alongside Southern Water.

Figures released by the Environment Agency revealed that almost two thirds of significant pollution incidents in the water and sewerage industry came from those two companies, who are also the biggest organisations operating in the UK.

Of the 47 incidents across England classed as serious, 13 involved Southern Water, up from five in 2022. The figure for Thames Water was 14, only slightly down on the 17 the year before.

Total pollution incidents with a connection to water company assets such as sewage treatment works, pumping stations, sewers and overflow pipes rose to 1,902. That was up from 1,658 in 2022. Some 30 per cent were in the Thames or Southern areas, 350 and 234, respectively, the agency revealed.

The figures have been published along with the companies’ overall rating from the Environment Agency for environmental performance. They were rated as only two stars from a possible four, unchanged from 2022. They are joint worst with three other water companies in England in the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) for 2023.

Environment Agency chair Alan Lovell said:“For the nation to have cleaner rivers and seas, water companies must take responsibility to understand the root cause of their problems.

“It is promising to see some companies starting to accept their responsibilities, but it is evident that the pace of improvement continues to fall short.

“Although we do tighten the standards each year to drive better performance, we have been clear that we expect all companies to achieve, and most critically sustain, better environmental performance. As part of this we are taking forward our biggest ever transformation in the way we regulate, recruiting up to 500 additional staff, increasing compliance checks and quadrupling the number of water company inspections by March next year.”

Thames Water was below the national average for self-reporting, but slightly up on Southern, with its employees informing the Environment Agency about 76 per cent of its pollution incidents.

A spokesperson for Thames Water said: “Our region has experienced the wettest winter since records began, resulting in exceptionally high groundwater and river levels. This has at times overwhelmed our sewer system and has led to discharges into rivers.

“More investment is needed across the entire sector, as infrastructure ages and demand on it increases. That’s why we’ve asked for increased investment in the next regulatory cycle between 2025-2030 so we can improve outcomes for customers, and the environment.

“Our River Health Plan highlights our ambition to deliver these changes. We are upgrading 250 of our sewage treatment works to reduce the number of storm discharges to protect the environment and eliminate the risk of incidents in the future.”

Last year, a judge branded Thames Water reckless as she fined them £3.3m for polluting two rivers near Gatwick Airport with sewage in 2017, killing several thousand fish.