Water firms' sewage dumping could cost UK £150bn: Lord Hollick slams executives and regulators for failing to prevent discharge into rivers

By Neil Craven, Financial Mail on Sunday

Updated:

Lord Hollick, chairman of an official committee investigating Britain's water industry, this weekend slammed executives and regulators for failing to prevent the discharge of millions of tons of raw sewage into rivers – and said it could cost at least £150billion to tackle the problem. 

The Labour peer, a former owner of Express Newspapers, spoke of his 'dismay' over evidence presented to the Lords Industry and Regulators Committee on the appalling state of water infrastructure, following decades of under-investment. There were 375,000 untreated sewage leaks into rivers in 2021 alone, according to the most recent figures. 

Hollick said that the state of Britain's sewage and water systems was a 'very serious issue' that was going to take 'a great deal of funding and investment to put right'. He added that the lowest figure he had so far heard for the investment needed tackle the sewage problem was £150billion. 

Problem: There were 375,000 untreated sewage leaks into rivers in 2021 alone, according to the most recent figures

Ending leaks could add £100billion to the bill, he said. Other estimates for the upgrades needed have ranged up to £600billion. 

The money would probably come from the water companies, along with significant sums from taxpayers and higher bills for customers. 

Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, told the committee he had not been aware of the scale of the problem until the monitoring of water quality was stepped up over the past two years. Hollick said he had been 'surprised' by Bevan's comments. The industry is overseen by regulator Ofwat and the agency. 

Hollick said: 'It is a surprise neither the Government nor the two regulators took action some time ago. It's an industry-wide failure which has now got to be put right.' 

He added that the public had helped reveal the extent of the pollution and leaks, saying: 'MPs have been hearing for a long time from constituents that they can't swim in the river or the sea. We're going to be very interested to hear from Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena as to why the Government hasn't been more decisive and insistent sorting this out.' 

Ofwat's chief executive and chairman will this week appear in front of the committee, and Jayawardena in coming weeks.

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