Anglian Water given two star rating by Environment Agency for third year running after 300 sewage pollution incidents

The Environment Agency (EA) published its annual report on Tuesday (July 23), addressing the environmental performance of England’s nine water and sewerage companies during 2023.

The report shows star ratings under the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA), which is the only independent comparison of environmental performance across the sector. Companies can be rated from one to four stars.

Anglian Water has once again been rated as two stars, as it did in 2021 and 2022. According to the EA, two stars means improvement is required.

The annual report highlights 307 sewerage pollution incidents (or 40 pollution incidents from sewerage assets per 10,000km) and 11 serious incidents from sewerage assets, as the main reasons for the rating.

Regarding pollution incidents, the report said: “Numbers are dominated by Anglian Water, Southern Water and Thames Water. These water companies show little or no sign of improvement.”

It also found that Anglian Water performed below target in completing its Water Industry National Environment Programme. The programme was put in place by the EA when the government announced how much water companies could charge customers between 2020 and 2025. The report found that Anglian Water’s three water quality schemes had not met requirements within the planned deadlines.

In response to the report findings, the Environment Agency has set out further plans to transform its regulation of the water industry nationally, including new digital and monitoring systems and increasing inspections. The EA says its regulatory presence will be increased across East Anglia.

Sadia Moeed, area director for Environment Agency in East Anglia said: "We are disappointed that Anglian Water is a two star company for the third year in a row. Where there is evidence of non-compliance we will not hesitate to pursue the water company and take appropriate action.

“As part of our national investment in water company regulation we will increase our regulatory presence across Anglian Water’s sites, contributing to the 4,000 inspections across the country this year, increasing to 10,000 next year."

Following the publication of the report, Anglian Water said it knows its “must do better” and says it has changed how it operates to address the issues.

An Anglian Water spokesperson added: “We take our responsibility to protect, restore and improve our region’s environment incredibly seriously. We know that we must do better on some critical measures of environmental performance, and that our customers want to see a demonstrable difference in the action we take to tackle storm spills and reduce pollutions.

“We’ve drastically changed how we operate to address more effectively the unique and complex challenges facing our region, but we knew it was going to take time for this to be reflected in our environmental performance and an improved EPA rating.

“We are seeing positive changes in many areas of work, and the recent £100m of additional funding from our shareholders means that we can continue with this strategy at pace.”

Read the full report on the government website.