UK River Report #22: Good to be Back

Welcome back dear reader to the twenty-second installment of the UK River Report. Degree? Done. Graduation? Done. It is back to full-length posts, and I must say it is good to be back. Although it has been quite some time since I last composed a full-length blog post, water companies and their executives have continued to demonstrate their flagrant disregard of the law, which simply cannot be without consequence. Separately, I will discuss the nationwide drought and why hosepipe bans simply do not cut it, while ending on a happier note as we can look forward to the Great UK WaterBlitz and you can find out how to get involved.

Crooked water companies:

In recently released court papers from an illegal spillage case against South Water, it was found that despite it being illegal to release untreated sewage during loosely defined 'normal' weather conditions, approximately 86% of these spills continued to occur under such conditions and were therefore likely illegal [1]. In fact, over the past two years, even the best performing English water companies were measured to have a potential illegality rating of over 70% [1]. These figures, the result of research carried out by Professor Peter Hammond, who obtained the previously undisclosed papers and compared court definitions to over 350 storm overflow outlets in England, demonstrate the evident ambiguity and weakness of regulation and its enforcement which has allowed water companies to repeatedly exploit the system [1].

Aside from the environmental destruction, the resulting health risks facing the wider public have become increasingly apparent, as a large group of swimmers fell ill with vomiting and diarrhoea after having entered a designated bathing site at Farleigh Hungerford along the River Frome, with Wessex Water investigating a nearby storm overflow [2]. It is little wonder why local governments including Cornwall Council have joined the public in their loss of trust toward water companies, having recently passed a vote of no confidence in South West Water [3].

In the past month, the actions of Southern Water have been particularly deplorable and ought to warrant the handing down of prison sentences to those involved, since past and current financial penalties imposed have evidently been ineffective. Earlier this month, South Water was fined over £7 million for historic illegal sewage dumping offences – one of 174 prior convictions over a period of 17 years and counting [4]. This comes as several former South Water employees, including ex-CEO Matthew Wright, have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the Environment Agency and Ofwat through manipulation of operator self-monitoring scheme results, to prevent the sampling of discharge from wastewater treatment works at sites believed to likely fail testing [5]. The creation of these artificial no-flow events enabled Southern Water to act in breach of its environmental permit for several years and, at a conservative estimate, enabled savings of at least £45 million through avoided penalties [5]. Fortunately, given recent changes in legislation, those charged may face prison time, which would be a first for any current or former water company executive [6, 7].

Hosepipe ban hypocrisy:

This month, the Environment Agency declared drought in more than 50% of England, with over 20 million people under hosepipe bans, including those supplied by Thames Water, Anglican Water and South West Water [8-11]. Although there has indeed been particularly dry weather in recent weeks, given the unrestricted actions of water companies are instead largely responsible for exacerbating conditions, the introduction of hosepipe bans will not resolve the issue [8].

Despite the promised investment to result from privatisation, roughly 20% of water continues to be wasted due to leakage from pipes, with analysis from Greenpeace having found water lost from ill-maintained, leaky pipes wastes approximately five times more than that saved from a national hosepipe ban [12, 13]. The chronic underinvestment in our water infrastructure is further evidenced by several instances of burst mains pipes, including across Suffolk and Wiltshire [14, 15]. Nonetheless, water company executives continue to receive exorbitant bonuses and undermine the supposed restrictions in place [16].

Separately, although over-abstraction from water companies is a pressing issue at more than 6 trillion litres per year across England and Wales, this is noticeably dwarfed by current commercial abstraction licences at approximately 43 trillion litres [17, 18]. As droughts become increasingly frequent, such licences ought to be subject to much stricter and regular reviews [18].

Freshwater Watch - the Great UK WaterBlitz:

While there is still time, I urge readers to register for the Great UK WaterBlitz. Taking place in late September, this will offer the opportunity for environmentally conscious individuals to act and help collect important data on the quality of your local river, which could be used as evidence to influence current policy and regulations.

By registering, Freshwater Watch will post a water testing kit free of charge, helping regular people to make a difference [19]. I for one will be getting involved.

earthwatch.org.uk

Great UK WaterBlitz - Earthwatch Europe

Join the Great UK WaterBlitz and help fight for healthy freshwater. Help us measure water quality across the UK.

Thank you for taking the time to read this month's issue of the UK River Report. I hope you found it informative. If you would like to get involved and raise awareness of river pollution in your area, please head over to the UK River Report website and check under the 'Get Involved' page to complete our survey, or feel free to get in touch via the 'Contact' page, if you feel you have more to discuss than the survey can offer. 

With hope for the future,

Federico

References:

1. Fisher J. Secret Court Documents Reveal Potential Scale of Illegal Sewage Spilling. BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0nxd1jgw5o

2. da Silva A, Diamond J. Children 'violently ill' After Swimming in River. BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78yjkkd22zo

3. Zeltmann B. Council Passes Vote of No Confidence in Water Firm. BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cevmg1pnl8lo

4. PA Media. Southern Water Fined £7m After Illegally Dumping Sewage off Kent Coast. The Guardian; 2026. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/17/southern-water-fined-7m-dumping-sewage-kent-coast

5. BBC. Ex-Southern Water Boss Among Four Charged Over Alleged Plan to Manipulate Water Tests. BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c36d0njy7jjo

6. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Environment Agency, The Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP. Polluting Water Bosses Face up to Two Years in Prison. GOV.UK; 2025. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/polluting-water-bosses-face-up-to-two-years-in-prison

7. Environment Agency. EA Commences Criminal Proceedings Against Southern Water. GOV.UK; 2026. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ea-commences-criminal-proceedings-against-southern-water

8. Poynting M. More Than Half of England in Drought, Environment Agency Declares. BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg35n7yny3o

9. Gilyeat D. Thames Water Announces Hosepipe Ban for 10 Million. BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crmrnvl2xw8o

10. Dexter A. What Does a Hosepipe Ban Mean for the UK's Driest Region? BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1wyxgl72pro

11. Thorpe G. Hosepipe Ban Set up After Heatwave Pressure. BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74y2g2w5zqo

12. Ofwat. Leakage. Ofwat; 2026. Available from: https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/supply-and-standards/leakage/

13. Gelmini S. Leaky Pipes Waste Five Times More Water than Hosepipe Bans Save. Greenpeace; 2026. Available from: https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/leaky-pipes-waste-five-times-more-water-than-hosepipe-bans-save/

14. Cunningham A. Why Have we Seen More Water Pipes Burst Recently? BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce37dp3qwejo

15. Rattley H. Water Supply Returns for Hundreds After Burst Main. BBC; 2026. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg8egxrpy5o

16. Jolly J. Water Bosses’ Pay Rises Despite Bonus Ban and Public Fury Over Bills and Pollution. The Guardian; 2026. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/24/water-bosses-pay-rises-bonus-ban-sewage

17. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. Threats to our Rivers: Drought and Over-Abstraction. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust; 2026. Available from: https://www.hiwwt.org.uk/drought-and-over-abstraction

18. River Action. Millions Face Hosepipe Bans While Businesses Hold Licences to Abstract 43 Trillion Litres as Water Demand Grows. River Action; 2026. Available from: https://riveractionuk.com/news/hosepipe-bans-water-abstraction-uk/

19. Earthwatch Europe. Join the UK’s Biggest Citizen Science Freshwater Survey. Earthwatch Europe; 2026. Available from: https://earthwatch.org.uk/greatukwaterblitz/