Water companies in England are set to record the highest number of serious pollution incidents in at least a decade as they get the green light to raise customers’ bills, The i Paper can reveal.
Data released under Freedom of Information laws, and shared with The i Paper, found water companies were responsible for 59 serious incidents, such as toxic sewage or chemical spills, in the first six months of this year alone.
The data is preliminary and subject to change following investigations by the Environment Agency (EA). But if pollution continues at this rate, it will make the number of serious incidents more than 50 per cent higher than last year and more than double the amount recorded in 2023.
The revelations come despite promises by the water industry that it is investing in its infrastructure to reduce pollution and reassurances from the Government that it is clamping down on wrongdoing.
Water companies collectively made billions of pounds in profits last year as customers’ bills increased. While some of this profit is reinvested in improving infrastructure, much is also spent on debt interest payments and shareholder dividends. The FOI data does not include a breakdown of incidents per water company.
What record Ebola outbreak tells us about a future pandemic
Hard to believe it, but a few years on from the worst global pandemic in more than a century, our world is ignoring an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that is breaking records by the week.
What’s the situation?
This week, the director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was on track to become the deadliest ever outbreak of the disease.
It has already killed more than 2,000 people and is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus – for which there is no vaccine or treatment.
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Dire warnings from experts
“What’s terrifying is that the virus is way ahead of us,” one UN source said. “We are chasing the virus.”
Alan Doss, British head of the UN’s Peacekeeping mission in Congo, said: “The world seems to have forgotten that the first human infections of HIV/Aids occurred in Congo, but years later it became such a defining issue for Western public health. “
Aid cuts hinder response
A source from the WHO said: “From the closure by Trump of the giant USAID, to the reduction in Europe of aid programmes too, you know we are looking at a world shutting its eyes to a catastrophe in the making.”
The UK government is cutting development assistance to the DRC by 29 per cent.
What Clacton voters think as Farage re-elected
From spoiled ballots to voting for a bin, there is a palpable frustration and exasperation with the state of British politics.
‘This is England – it’s how it should stay’
Farage supporter Jane Smith tells The i Paper she cast her ballot for him because “he’s trying to get people out who shouldn’t be here”.
“A lot of people are for Farage,” she said. “Because he’s going to his best to get the immigrants out.”
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‘There are better ways to spend that money’
Nicola Lott, 51, abstained from voting – but on reflection wishes she had spoiled her ballot. She works in recruitment for a care company, is positive about immigration and says “we wouldn’t have an NHS” without it.
The money spent on the by-election could have been better used to tackle “areas of deprivation”, Nicola added.
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‘I voted for somebody with a tin on their head’
Dan Casey, 87, said “lots of people didn’t vote because they just thought it was a total farce”.
Casey added, incredulous: “I’ve never ever known anybody not to turn up to the count. It’s his election, he called it, and he doesn’t even turn up for the count.”
Count Binface said he was “the winning candidate of the candidates who bothered to turn up for the results”.
What asylum seekers are entitled to after entering the UK
Reform UK has accused Vodafone of “facilitating the invasion of Britain” by giving out free SIM cards to Channel migrants.
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, said he wrote to the Vodafone board, threatening the company’s leadership with jail time under a future Reform government, after learning it issues free SIMs to charities supporting migrants.
The company is reported to have supplied refugee charity Care4Calais with more than 2,000 SIMs.
What are asylum seekers actually entitled to?
- Asylum seekers are entitled to accommodation, which could be in a flat, house, a hotel or a hostel, or bed and breakfast.
- At the end of March, 97,519 people were receiving asylum support. Of these, 72,768 were in non-hotel accommodation.
- People receiving asylum support get £49.18 per week to cover essential expenses. This works out at £7.02 per day.
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Healthcare and employment
Asylum seekers may receive free healthcare on the NHS if they need to see a doctor or get hospital treatment. They are also entitled to free prescriptions for medicine, free NHS dental care, free eyesight tests, and help towards the cost of glasses.
In most cases, people seeking asylum are banned from working while their claim is considered. Instead, they must access support through the Home Office.
British cyclist Finlay Tarling dies in Volta a Portugal accident
British cyclist Finlay Tarling has died aged 19, after an accident during the eighth stage of the Volta a Portugal.
The Welshman is the younger brother of Ineos Grenadiers rider Josh and had raced for Great Britain on the road and track.
What happened?
- Tarling was competing for the NSN Development Team.
- The incident occurred on the 166.8km route from Melgaco to Fafe.
- The 19-year-old had signed a two-year deal with NSN ahead of the 2025 season.
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What did his team say?
Fin was a much loved member of our team but most importantly, he was a son, a brother, and a friend to so many. He will be deeply missed. Our deepest condolences go out to Fin’s parents Michael and Dawn, his brother Josh, and everyone who was lucky enough to call Fin a friend.
- The race organisers and the Portuguese Cycling Federation expressed their “most heartfelt condolences to his family…his teammates, to the NSN Development Team, and to all his friends and loved ones.”
They added that the race had been neutralised and the scheduled podium ceremony would not take place as a sign of “respect and mourning.”
The data also shows that the EA is not attending the majority of serious incidents despite boosting resources to tackle pollution in England’s rivers and seas in recent years.
The regulator downgraded hundreds of serious incidents without attending to them in person during the first six months of 2026, the data shows.
Former EA employee and whistleblower Robert Forrester, who obtained the figures, said the data showed there was “no deterrent” for water companies and that promises by the Government to tackle the sewage scandal were “hollow”.
Record pollution number
When a pollution incident, such as a toxic spill, is reported to the EA, the regulator categorises it on a scale of one to four based on severity.
When it comes to water companies, this often means sewage leaks that impact several kilometres of river or result in high mortality fish kills, Forrester said.
As of the end of June this year, the regulator had recorded 59 category one and two incidents by water companies.
Because this data is preliminary, the agency could change the final categorisation of these incidents. But the numbers already show water companies are on track for a record year of pollution.
The data for 2025 and 2026 may also be slightly higher as the information obtained under FOI includes all 14 water companies in England, while the official pre-2024 figures only include the nine water and sewerage firms.
However, water-only companies have historically been responsible for very few serious pollution incidents, meaning it is unlikely to significantly alter the figures.
The EA has repeatedly said it aims to attend all category one and two incidents in person. However, the data shows it only attended 42 per cent of these incidents in the first half of 2026.
Forrester, who worked for the agency in the North West for over 20 years, said the EA used to attend all serious events.
He said it is “utterly shambolic” that some category one events were going unattended as it means the regulator is not gathering any evidence that could be used in a prosecution.
In the first six months of 2026, 243 incidents that were initially recorded as category one or two were downgraded to category three of four without anyone from the EA witnessing them in person the data shows.
An EA spokesperson said it was “simply wrong” to describe this as “downgrading” as they said an incident is only reclassified after a lengthy investigation. They added overall attendance at pollution events related to the water industry increased by 75 per cent between 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Forrester said the agency relies on water companies to provide information about an incident if it does not attend in person.
This effectively minimises its role as watchdog, Forrester said “The water company in effect becomes the regulator and so you rely on what evidence they say, what pictures and samples they give you and then the agency makes a decision, ‘We agree with you; it’s not serious.'”
These statistics come despite pledges by the EA and water industry to get a grip on pollution following public outcry over the amount of sewage pouring into our rivers, lakes and seas.
The i Paper’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign has called on the Government to boost the resources of the EA so it can properly tackle pollution. Ministers provided it with its largest ever budget for water regulation last year.
The latest data raises serious questions as to why the agency is still failing to attend the majority of serious incidents.
“We’ve chucked a tonne of money at this. We’ve given the biggest-ever budget so now there really is no excuse not to be attending,” Forrester said.
A spokesperson for Water UK, which represents water companies, said: “These are initial figures that are expected to change substantially as investigations are conducted – for example, as pollution is traced to organisations other than water companies.
“Nevertheless, there is much more for the water industry to do on pollution which is why we are tripling investment to halve spills from storm overflows and upgrade the capacity of 1,700 wastewater treatment works.”
An EA spokesperson said: “We have increased our attendance at serious incidents and final classifications are made only after full investigation and expert review.
“We have fundamentally strengthened our approach to water company regulation in recent years and will not hesitate to prosecute water companies which break the law, concluding over 70 prosecutions and securing £158m in fines since 2015.”