Sewage stats: waterways treated as open sewers while Govt offering nothing but recycled promises

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

The latest Government data has revealed that nearly two million hours of sewage were pumped into waterways last year. This comes almost a year after the Government announced it would be replacing Ofwat with a “powerful” new regulator.

Environment Agency data released today reveals water companies dumped sewage 291,492 times last year, lasting for a total of 1,873,751 hours.

Thames Water was the worst offender for duration of spills, with an average of 11.7 hours worth per spill. The worst offender for the number of spills was United Utilities with 60,843 spills in 2025. South West Water was responsible for the longest spill, which lasted 5446 hours - equivalent to 226.9 days or nearly eight months.

Liberal Democrat Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

"Water companies are continuing to act with impunity, treating our waterways like open sewers and the Government is fiddling while Rome burns. Nearly a year ago, we were promised a powerful new regulator to replace Ofwat. This is yet to materialise, and water bosses are still pocketing millions while infrastructure crumbles and nearly two million hours of sewage has been dumped into our waterways in a single year. We need a radical overhaul.

“The Liberal Democrats have spearheaded the campaign to protect our rivers and beaches, and we will continue to fight for fundamental reform of how our water companies are regulated and run. This means forcing water companies to finally report the amount of sewage they’re dumping, not just the length of time, and a new ownership model where water companies are owned by their customers, for public benefit not private profit.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

2025 sewage stats can be found here.

Government press release on the abolition of Ofwat can be found here.