Quality of UK water environment continues to rise

Reports out today from the Environment Agency show that pollution incidents from water companies are falling while the quality of our water environment continues to rise.

The water industry is committed to improving the quality of waters around the UK. Between 1990 and 2020, the industry will have invested around £25 billion in environmental work. This dedication has led to significant reductions in pollution incidents, with the Environment Agency reporting a 50% reduction in phosphorus load discharged, and 23% decrease in biological oxygen demand load from sewage treatment works since 2000.

Such improvements have seen protection or improvements to 15,000km of rivers in the UK since 1995. The most recent EA results on bathing waters also show that 95.4% of UK waters met the required standard, while 60% met the excellent standard.

Despite these positive results, the water sector continues to face a wide range of complex challenges and is working to secure the long-term resilience of water and sewerage supplies.

If you are interested in seeing more about how water companies are performing, take a look at Discover Water, the industry's information dashboard.

Environment Agency:

Business environmental performance

Regulating for people, environment and growth: 2015 evidence summary

2015 data on regulated businesses in England