Anti-sewage campaigners reacted with fury yesterday after it was revealed under-fire water firms had funded a study claiming “low public understanding” was partly to blame for the backlash against the sector.
The UK’s biggest water companies have faced stinging criticism and multimillion pound fines for the amount of sewage leaked into British rivers and seas in recent years. There were 3.6m hours of spills in 2023, according to the Environment Agency, more than double the prior year.
Many firms have failed to adequately invest in the infrastructure needed to cope with heavier rainfall, despite paying investors billions in dividends.
However, a new report from the lobby group Future Water Association and Copper Consultancy instead focuses on the impact of “low public understanding,” which it claims has enabled misconceptions to “take root and trust to be eroded in the sector.”
The report’s findings claim nearly three quarters of the public believe water companies are “too profitable” and only 28 per cent believe wastewater is treated to a high standard.
Future Water Association is funded by members including Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water and South Staffordshire Water, according to its website.
Anglian Water was responsible for the highest increase in raw sewage discharges of all England’s water companies last year, according to the Environment Agency. Yorkshire Water, meanwhile, is facing £47m in fines from industry regulator Ofwat, after discharging untreated wastewater into the rivers for seven hours a day in 2023.
The Future Water Association and Copper Consultancy also said it had launched a “Reputation Steering Group” to offer recommendations for the industry.
According to a Linkedin post from Future Water, the group aims to help the sector make the positive case for new infrastructure and “change how it’s perceived – both by the public and politicans.” Other members of the Reputation Steering Group include Southern Water and Pennon, which came under fire last week when it blamed “high groundwater” for an increase in sewage discharges this year.
The study also argued many of the public “do not know their consumption” or the impact consumption has on the environment, with 44 per cent of respondents disagreeing that their “own consumption behaviours have an impact on water shortages.”
The grassroots environmental charity Surfers against Sewage described the study as “another example of corporate spin”.
“All the public really want is transparency when it comes to sewage discharges, the pollution risks to their health and a clear plan from water companies as to how they are going to upgrade the wastewater infrastructure so there is an end to sewage pollution once and for all,” a spokesperson told City A.M.
The report’s publication comes amid intense lobbying from water firms to prevent Ofwat from capping a rise in household water bills to £19 per year from December.
They claim that without billpayers forking out more over the next five-year investment period there won’t be enough money to for the relevant infrastructure upgrades needed to prevent further sewage spills. Crisis-hit Thames Water has suggested a bill hike of up to 52 per cent by 2030, as it battles to stave off collapse.
Paul Horton, chief executive of the Future Water Association, said: “Public understanding is one of several challenges facing the water sector – at no point does our report claim it is the only factor.
“The report was produced to have an honest conversation about the water sector, which is critical to everyone’s lives. We need to move toward an authentic discussion on the sector’s challenges to increase public engagement in the sector”.
Yorkshire Water, Anglian Water and South Staffordshire Water have been approached for comment.