The new Water Quality Report by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), informed by Freedom of Information data, reveals that the water industry in England  has – for the first time – failed its targets for reducing pollution incidents for the last investment period between 2020 and 2025. It highlights the scale of the UK’s sewage problem and focuses in on the poor performance and financial mismanagement in the privatised sector.

Water companies were collectively set an Environment Agency target of a 40% reduction in pollution incidents but instead recorded a 30% increase. The 2,487 pollution incidents in 2024 are the highest in a decade, and more than double the target set by the EA.

As a result of the pollution extent, the report also argues that more than a quarter of adults in England have considered not paying their water bill. Through a representative sample of 2,000 adults, it reveals that 27% of people in England, where the water industry is privatised, have considered not paying their bill due to the actions of their water supplier, with just one third (33%) believing their water supplier will take the necessary action to end sewage pollution.This month, water bills in England and Wales increased by up to 47%, and are set to continue to rise, with customers due to pay £160 more in 2030 than in 2024.

Giles Bristow, CEO at Surfers Against Sewage, said: “The water industry fails, fails and fails again and yet is permitted to come up smelling of roses, while our coastlines, rivers and lakes suffer the stench of sewage pollution. The numbers are staggering: record hours of sewage discharges, huge bill increases, thousands of people becoming ill and yet still the industry has the gall to still pay out billions of bill payer money to shareholders. Things could not be clearer: this broken system needs urgent and radical reform.

“We can change things, if we change the way our system is run. Across the globe, the norm is to manage water at a local level, rather than the 100% private ownership model in place in England that has proved catastrophic for the environment and public health. The era of broken pipes and broken promises must end and be replaced by a fresh vision for water that ends pollution for profit and leads to a fair and transparent system – one that prioritises public health and value for customer money and delivers healthy coastlines, rivers and lakes,” Bristow added.

SAS’s report further questions where the billions funded through bill payments is going, highlighting that, despite new regulations and laws intended to reduce profit from pollution, shareholders were paid £1.2 billion in 2023-24 whilst record hours of raw sewage discharged into England’s waters.

The campaign group is now calling for the Government and the Independent Water Commission to consider the missed targets and ‘deliver radical transformation of the privatised water industry in England and Wales’.

In 2024 alone, Surfers Against Sewage received 1,853 Sickness Reports through its Safer Seas & Rivers Service app – an average of five people getting sick per day after using the water. The data only includes cases reported to SAS, meaning the number of people becoming unwell from poor water quality is likely to be far higher. These reported instances of sickness led to nine years’ worth of sick days, with an estimated productivity hit to the economy of £493,200.

331 people had to see a doctor, with 79% of those reporting that their doctor had attributed their illness to sewage pollution. Water users reported hundreds of cases of gastroenteritis and chest infections, as well as serious bacterial infections and even hospitalisations.

Suzi Finlayson, a 42-year-old mother of two and avid sea swimmer from Bognor Regis became critically ill after developing a blood infection, leading to life-threatening infective endocarditis that was diagnosed in early 2024. She required open-heart surgery and was forced to close her business, facing a long recovery where for six months, she was unable to drive, walk her dogs or manage day-to-day household tasks.

Finlayson said: “I became critically ill and spent six weeks in hospital care. This experience has completely changed my life, I’ve faced a long recovery, ongoing health challenges. This has impacted my family, and the financial strain of closing my business and being unable to fully return to work.

“At the time of my infection, a sewage overflow from three pipes at Aldwick Beach lasted 343 hours (14 days), as reported by Southern Water. I was regularly sea swimming two to three times a week and was advised that my infection could have entered through a cut, my skin, or my mouth.”

In September 2023, 28-year-old Charlie Clarke swam at a popular swimming spot, Clevedon Marine Lake, just outside of Bristol whilst training for an Ironman race. The following day, whilst going for a light jog, he collapsed and was rushed to hospital for ECGs and blood tests. Over the following four months, multiple tests built up a picture of the damage and concluded that a virus caught whilst swimming had lowered his blood pressure and caused a minor episode in his heart.

Charlie said: “This experience and diagnosis set me back in a number of ways. My everyday life was impacted, as I was unable to raise my heartrate whilst in recovery. Everyday tasks became a barrier to a normal life – for example commuting by bike was no longer an option.  My main social outlet is sport, which was put on hold for several months. This impacted my confidence further and left me particularly isolated from football and cycling teams. It took me around a year to become confident enough to raise my heart rate to its maximum.”

This year’s Surfers Against Sewage Water Quality Report is published as the Government and the Independent Water Commission continue their review of the future of the privatised water industry in England and Wales. The Commission is currently conducting a public call for evidence which closes on Wednesday 23 April.  Surfers Against Sewage is calling for transformational reform of the sector and is urging the Commission to publish recommendations that can deliver an end to sewage pollution.

Specifically, the charity is demanding that water companies should prioritise people and planet before profit or shareholder returns. It further argues that decisions about how water is managed should have the input of local stakeholders such as water users, customers, local authorities, engineers and environmental groups, while regulators should enforce the law and hold stakeholders to account. Financial reward must not be permitted if laws are broken, and environmental performance is poor. According to Surfers Against Sewage, the new system must be regulated to ensure finances are used efficiently and debt is managed sustainably, with investment prioritised to tackle sewage pollution, while the water companies need to be fully transparent around their finances, ensuring that no-one can profit from pollution.

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