The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) have announced that a record 81 criminal investigations into water companies have been launched in England over the last nine months since since the general election.

A new operation spearheaded by Environment Secretary Steve Reed , as part of the Government’s crackdown on sewage dumping amounts to the largest criminal action against water companies in history.

The number of inspections carried out by authorities into sewage pollution has climbed by nearly 400% since last July.

A statement issued by Defra says:

“This will act as a powerful deterrent, focussing water bosses’ minds on investing to upgrade water infrastructure to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.”

Following the investigations, water company chiefs could be jailed for five years and water companies fined hundreds of millions of pounds.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed commented:

“Water companies have too often gone unpunished as they pump record levels of sewage into our waterways. No more.

A record number of criminal investigations have been launched into law-breaking water companies – which could see bosses behind bars.

“With this Government, water companies who break the law will finally be punished for their disgraceful behaviour so we can clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.”

Philip Duffy, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency added:

“This milestone is testament to our determination to hold water companies to account and achieve a cleaner water environment.

“Our message to the industry is clear: we expect full compliance throughout the water system, and we will not hesitate to take robust enforcement action where we identify serious breaches.”

Environment Agency on track to deliver 10,000 inspections next year

The Environment Agency is on track to deliver 10,000 inspections next year, using tougher powers gained through the Water (Special Measures) Act alongside more officers and upgraded digital tools to drive better performance across the water sector. The EA has hired 380 additional regulatory staff to carry out inspections and other enforcement activity.

When a water company breaks the rules of its environmental permit, it is a criminal offence - for example, releasing excessive pollution into a river or failing to carry out water quality monitoring.

The Agency follows up on every offence they find and the most serious offences, like illegal sewage spills, trigger a criminal investigation that could see water company fines and criminal prosecution for water bosses.

The EA has also taken a zero-tolerance approach to identify and resolve over 1000 minor issues last year like unclogging pipes to deliver immediate improvements to local communities and the environment.

New powers, delivered by the Government’s landmark Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, also mean water executives who cover up or hide illegal sewage spills can now be locked up for up to two years.

The Environment Agency are also currently carrying out their largest ever criminal investigation into potential widespread non-compliance by water companies at over 2000 sewage treatment works.

Seven cases against water companies are going to court over the next few months following criminal investigations by the Environment Agency.

Rivers Trust -  “record number of investigations shocking but not surprising”

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Rivers Trust commented:

“It’s shocking but not surprising to hear that a record number of investigations have been launched into water companies recently. Pollution has been treated as business as usual by those companies, as well as the government and regulators, for too long...

“We call on the government to confirm that the fines raised from this enforcement will be ringfenced into the Water Restoration Fund so that they can be spent on restoring the environments affected by pollution with nature-positive measures such as restoring healthy soils, planting more trees, re-wiggling straightened rivers, restoring wetlands and ponds.

“Despite this progress, tackling sewage pollution is still just one aspect of the huge challenge of restoring rivers and catchments to good health. There is little or no regulation of a wide range of other sources of pollution affecting rivers, and the attention now being made to water company pollution needs to be extended to other areas such as highways and agriculture.”