‘They are sticking two fingers up at people’: Water firms accused of using data delays to ‘cover-up’ potential crimes
Water companies have been accused of “sticking two fingers up at people” after LBC uncovered thousands of lengthy delays in reporting potentially illegal pollution incidents.
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Under current regulations, water firms in England and Wales self-police pollution incidents, but are obliged to “immediately” notify the Environment Agency when there is a sewage or chemical spill which could damage rivers, lakes or seas.
Campaigners, however, have consistently argued that the system, known as Operator Self-Monitoring, relies too heavily on the honesty of water companies and is open to manipulation.
LBC analysed more than 20,000 self-reports submitted to the Environment Agency between 2022 and 2025, uncovering more than 2,100 incidents in which water companies took over 24 hours to inform the Environment Agency about potentially illegal sewage discharges.
The data showed dozens of cases in which companies failed to disclose spills for over a year, with some firms taking over a decade to come clean about incidents.
“Delays are essentially a means of affecting what evidence can be gathered, what evidence can be used,” explains Robert Forrester, the whistleblowing former Environment Agency employee whose story inspired Channel 4’s docudrama Dirty Business.
Forrester, who spent over two decades conducting pollution checks on rivers, said this makes it harder for the Environment Agency to prove illegal activity has taken place, as it gives pollutants, such as raw sewage, time to drift further downstream.
This reduces the likelihood of fines being levied against companies.
“The data is an absolute disgrace,” Mr Forrester, who obtained the data through environmental transparency laws, lamented. “There was [once] a strong deterrent effect for the water companies, so they would self-report immediately because they knew there would be strong enforcement action if they didn't.
“[But] that slowly got watered down over the years and the water companies now know that they can manipulate the self-reports to their own advantage,” he added, before suggesting that the firms may have an incentive to “cover up” spills by delaying results.
Water UK, which represents the industry, strongly rejected this accusation and said self-reporting was at its highest levels ever.
Forrester believes that Operator Self-Monitoring, which has been in place since 2009, began to fail during the tenure of the Environment Agency’s former chief executive, Sir James Bevan.
Sir James, who led the regulator between 2015 and 2023, was accused of regularly downplaying the extent of the sewage crisis during his time running the agency.
In the final year of his tenure, Sir James told a water industry conference that the debate over sewage pollution was being conducted on “wild assertions, myths, and outright untruths.”
That same year, however, saw a 54% increase in the number of sewage spills in England’s waterways. Across 2024 and 2025, around 5.4 million hours’ worth of sewage was dumped in England’s rivers.
Last month, Environment Secretary, Emma Reynolds, told LBC’s Nick Ferrari that the prospect of stripping Sir James of his knighthood over environmental failings should be “seriously considered”.
For the Liberal Democrats’ environment spokesperson, Tim Farron, LBC’s data shows that self-reporting “clearly isn't working.”
“You have huge water companies, very powerful, very wealthy, with all the lawyers that they need, up against 2 or 3 regulators who are understaffed, underpowered, and under-resourced.
“These water companies run rings around those who are meant to regulate them. And they know they can do this. And I think the morality of it is awful when you think about it.”
Mr Farron’s comments come as new polling data lays bare public concern about the cleanliness of Britain’s rivers.
The poll of over 2,100 Brits, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, suggests that nearly one in six adults believe they, a loved one or a pet has suffered illness or health problems specifically linked to swimming in rivers or the sea.
On top of this, over half of all UK adults (53%) admitted they would feel uncomfortable swimming, or letting a loved one swim, in local waterways.
“A sewage cover-up is going on across the country,” Mr Farron said. “It looks like the water companies are sticking two fingers up at the people and the Parliament, saying, ‘you can try to regulate us, but we'll carry on doing what we like.’
“There are two reasons why this is an issue that continues to really, really anger the British people. First, it's disgusting that you've got sewage being put into our lakes, our waters, and our seas - but it's also a sign of people who are very powerful realising they can get away with something.
“It's morally wrong as well as environmentally awful.”
Approached with LBC’s findings, a spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "This government is ending the era of water company self-monitoring, introducing new MOT-style checks on watercompany assets, requiring health checks on pipes and pumps, and bringing in ‘no notice’ inspections to help clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
"We have already taken action, banning unfair bonuses, securing record levels of investment and introducing landmark legislation to hold water companies to account – including jail time for water company executives who obstruct investigations.
“Our long-term reforms will mean there is a new, single regulator with tougher oversight focused on preventing problems before they occur, helping to rebuild customer trust and protect the environment.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Water UK said: “We don’t recognise this data or the conclusion reached. The most recent data from the Environment Agency shows water company self-reporting of pollution incidents is at its highest level ever.
“However, the number of pollution incidents remains too high. Water companies are investing a record £104 billion to secure our water supplies, end sewage entering our rivers and seas and support economic growth.”