A BBC investigation has found that three water companies – Southern Water, Thames Water and Wessex Water, discharged sewage into rivers last year on hundreds of occasions - at a time when it was not raining.

The story - "Water firms illegally spilled sewage on dry days - data suggests" - has been reported widely across the BBC’s news channels and other media outlets, provoking further criticism from a wide range of organisations and individuals.

Speaking to presenter Martha Carney on the Radio 4 Today programme this morning, television presenter and author Christopher Packham commented:

“What a ghastly, ghastly mess the water industry is in. Yet here we find the BBC having to do water regulator’s Ofwat’s job for it – a year ago it seemed to be finding its teeth saying the scale of what they’d seen with regard to sewage spills was shocking . Now we see these dry spills – which are potentially criminal actions. The Environment Agency – under-resourced – starved of cash, people and resources to do its job properly is caught on the back foot.”

In response to Martha Carney’s comment that the Environment Agency says it is conducting “the largest-ever criminal investigation” into potential widespread no-compliance by the water companies, he continued:

“Even if they found the money today to start addressing these issues, how long would it take to get the infrastructure in place that could properly support the sewerage treatment system that we need in this country to make sure that these sewage spills don’t happen.

“We are way behind in that investment and this has to be seen as a long-term legacy of the privatisation process.

“At the moment we must call upon the Environment Agency to carry out that investigation thoroughly and for Ofwat to “basically, get off its backside” and make sure these sorts of things are investigated and prosecuted.”

Commenting on the the Today programme about the BBC investigation, David Henderson, Chief Executive of Water UK, the body that represents all the UK water companies, said:

“We have recognised that there are issues, weve apologised and we have devised a plan to sort it out. I want to be clear – there should be no dry spills into waterways – and ideally, there should be no spills at all.

“The Environment Agency analysed this data, and if confirmed by the regulator, the appropriate penalties will be levied.”

He went on to suggest that the real issue is that “we have tired infrastructure. We have a plan to triple the investment, to start to end sewage in our rivers and seas, we are getting a grip of this but it will take time.”

In response to his comment that “we have had decades of insufficient investment”, Martha Carney said:

“But over time shouldn’t the water companies have been putting in more investment – instead of paying large amounts of money in dividends.” Referring to £1.4 billion paid out in dividends in 2022, she said this was “up from £540 million the previous year - money which could have gone into these creaking pipes.”

David Henderson commented:

“We are hopeful that Ofwat will approve our plans to triple the level of money that we spend on the system every year.”

The Rivers Trust: "discharges are ‘canary in the coalmine’

A statement issued by The Rivers Trust in response to the BBC dry sewage spills story says:

“It’s depressing if not surprising to hear that dry spills are occurring so often. Discharging untreated sewage in dry weather is bad for both human health and river health - lower river flows mean more concentrated pollutants at a time when more people want to enjoy cooling their rivers.

“Although a problem in their own right, these discharges are also the ‘canary in the coalmine’ pointing to greater problems in our sewerage and river systems. This could be blockages in the system, groundwater seeping into broken pipes, misconnections, or just poor management choices.”

Click here to read the BBC article on its investigation in full