Stuart Colville, Director of Policy at Water UK, the body which represents all the UK water companies, says that the water companies support the The Times and ‘i’ campaigns to improve the nation’s rivers and seas.

Commenting in a blog post on the campaign launches this week by the two national newspapers, he explained that it was right that the state of our waterbodies gets this kind of attention, saying:

“Our rivers are much better than previous decades – but their ecological quality is still far too low, improvements seem to have plateaued, and there is little attention on public health as an increasing priority for improvements. This will only improve if water companies, agriculture, government and regulators all take action; press attention can help accelerate progress.”

According to Water UK, much of what the newspapers are arguing for would be strongly supported by the water industry and mirror some of Water UK’s long-standing calls on behalf of the water companies, including:

• More clean bathing water sites by the end of the decade (The Times) - a plan to achieve this was set out in Water UK’s 21st Century Rivers report – released in 2021
• Call for a “Manifesto for water” based on a “robust cross-party plan” (The ‘i’ ) - mirrors Water UK’s own recommendation for government to bring different sectors, regulators and departments ogether under a single, clear plan enshrined in law via a new Rivers Act to embed protections and standards

Stuart Colville goes on to express Water UK’s hope that “some of the assumptions and misinformation particularly on social media, but also in some reporting, will benefit from some dispassionate scrutiny.”

This includes the fact that last year water companies earned an average 3.8% profit (half the average for utilities), while three actually had negative returns. In addition, the majority of companies either paid no dividend or paid a reduced dividend below what the regulator had assumed, in order to reinvest in infrastructure.

Stuart Colville said Water UK agreed with calls to increase spending on the pipes carrying sewage, pointing out that water companies are poised to invest £56 billion, the biggest investment the industry has ever seen and one of the largest infrastructure programmes ever undertaken in England, to replumb the nation and tackle pollution from storm overflows. This is on top of £14 billion for seven new reservoirs, the first of which is just starting construction near Portsmouth.

The blog post concludes:

“The two newspapers are right to highlight the need for urgent action. There is much more to do, but water companies are determined to deliver their part. We now need government, regulators and others to make the same commitment.”