Water companies will face the strictest targets on pollution from sewage ever under a new plan to tackle sewage discharges in waters published by the Government today.

The Government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan will require them to deliver their largest ever environmental infrastructure investment - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years - into a long term programme to tackle storm sewage discharges by 2050. The plan frontloads action in particularly important and sensitive areas including designated bathing waters and high priority ecological sites such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and chalk streams.

In addition, the plan includes a report on the feasibility of eliminating discharges from storm overflows.

The targets mean the water companies will need to take measures such as increasing the capacity of their networks and treating sewage before its discharged to protect public health and prevent pollution, whilst massively reducing all discharges. Failure to meet the targets could see them face substantial fines or having to return money to customers.

Saying it is the first Government to require water companies to take action to address the discharges, a statement issued by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and rhe Rt Hon George Eustice MP described the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan as “the most significant investment and delivery programme ever undertaken by water companies to protect people and the environment.”

The plan follows ongoing work by government, the Environment Agency and the regulator Ofwat to drive up water companies’ performance and monitoring and increase accountability. This includes a massive expansion in monitoring frequency and duration of discharges, from approximately 5% in 2016, to nearly 90% in 2021, which has been used to hold companies to account.

Under the new plans water companies will have to achieve a number of targets, so that discharges only happen when there is unusually heavy rain and when there is no immediate adverse impact to the local environment, including:

• Overflows that are causing the most harm will be addressed first to make the biggest difference as quickly as possible, and water companies will be expected to consider nature-based solutions in their planning.
• By 2035, water companies will have to improve all storm overflows discharging into or near every designated bathing water; and improve 75% of overflows discharging to high priority nature sites.
• By 2050, this will apply to all remaining storm overflows covered by the targets, regardless of location.
• A requirement for the water companies to publish discharge information in near real time as well as committing to tackling the root causes of the issue by taking steps to improve surface water drainage.

According to the plan, the scale of the modelled improvements required fall unevenly through the country. The three most impacted companies (Yorkshire Water, United Utilities and Wessex Water) account for over three quarters of the investment required relative to their consumer base.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said:

“This is the first government to take action to end the environmental damage caused by sewage spills. We will require water companies to protect everyone who uses our water for recreation, and ensure storm overflows pose no threat to the environment.

“Water companies will need to invest to stop unacceptable sewage spills so our rivers and coast lines can have greater protection than ever before.”

Under the plan there will be no changes to bills until 2025 and the Government has ruled out options which could add up to £817 a year to average household water bills.

The Government intends to review the plan in 2027 to consider both where it can go further, taking account of innovation and efficiencies, and how the programme is impacting bills.

Click here to download the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan