London-listed water companies United Utilities Group PLC and Severn Trent PLC on Tuesday both noted they have received the top rating for environmental protection from the UK government.
The pollution control awards come amid rising public concern about the release of untreated sewage into the UK’s waterways by privatised utilities.
United Utilities and Severn Trent received the top 4-star rating in the UK Environment Agency’s environmental performance assessment for 2023. Only three UK water companies received the top rating, with unlisted Wessex Water as the third.
Severn Trent noted that it has now received the 4-star rating for five consecutive years. It said it is on track for a sixth year after the first six months of 2024. The Environment Agency said ‘credit to Severn Trent for achieving this for the fifth year running’.
The agency added, however: ‘The performance of most companies lags far behind. We are seeing polarised performance as shown by the number of serious pollution incidents. Over 90% were caused by four water companies – Anglian Water, Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water. This is unacceptable.’
The agency said it has agreed with its sponsor department, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, an increase in inspections of water company assets, with 4,000 planned for the current financial year and more than 10,000 next year.
Last week, water industry regulator Ofwat said all 11 water firms in England and Wales are under scrutiny as part of a major investigation into whether their sewage treatment works are polluting the environment.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the new Labour government will need to ‘get to grips with’ sewage and pollution, while Environment Secretary Steve Reed proposed new measures to reform the sector and ‘fix our broken sewage system’.
United Utilities shares were down 0.9% to 1,008.00 pence early Tuesday in London, while Severn Trent was down 0.7% to 2,496.29p.
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