Water companies missed sewage reporting deadline more than 50,000 times, charity says

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Water companies in England failed to report more than 50,000 sewage discharges inside the hour required by law during the first six months of 2026, according to analysis published by Surfers Against Sewage on 8 October. The charity says all nine companies missed the deadline, and that more than 4,000 of the late reports related to designated bathing waters, the sites officially recognised for water use and monitored by the Environment Agency. Two of the companies named have questioned the figures, with one arguing that compliance is measured by publication to the regulator’s data hub rather than by when the charity is notified.

What the analysis found

Since January 2025, companies in England have had to report a discharge within 60 minutes so that the public knows the state of the water. The charity’s 2026 Water Quality Report, built largely on freedom of information requests, presents what it describes as the first analysis of compliance with that duty. South West Water accounted for more than 3,000 late reports, and Yorkshire Water is said to have published late for more than 13,000 discharges. Giles Bristow, the charity’s chief executive, said late reporting put public health at risk and breached the law.

The charity also estimates that sewage was discharged for at least 70,400 hours on dry days across England in the first half of the year, including 1,380 dry spills lasting 12,567 hours from South West Water. The Environment Agency treats dry-day spills as potential permit breaches, subject to investigation, and notes that in large catchments rain can take time to drain through, so a dry-day classification does not by itself establish an unlawful discharge.

Company responses

Yorkshire Water put its own count at 4,490 discharges published more than an hour late up to 7 October. That covers a different period from the charity’s first-half figure, so the two are not like-for-like. The company argued that its obligation is defined by what it reports to the National Storm Overflow Hub and to Ofwat, not by when the charity receives a notification, and said it has worked with Ofwat since late 2024 on publication compliance while spending £1.5 billion to upgrade more than 450 overflows by 2030. South West Water said its notifications are close to real time and that it is reviewing the methodology, suggesting the data may have been interpreted differently. It pointed to a £760 million programme and a 17 per cent cut in spills over the past year. Water UK said some delays may reflect monitors in remote locations.

Ofwat and the bathing water record

Ofwat said any spill into the environment was “one too many”, that companies need to keep their wastewater networks able to handle heavier rainfall and other pressures, and that it will take action where there is evidence of legal breaches. It said it has secured more than £300 million in fines and enforcement packages for wastewater failings.

On illness, the charity logged 1,568 sickness reports through its Safer Seas and Rivers Service app in 2025 and 1,687 between January and August 2026, 625 of them from the South West. It accepts that these capture only cases reported to it directly, and that its 2026 discharge figures come from raw, unverified company data not directly comparable with the 2025 annual returns. Across 2025, alerts were in place at designated UK bathing waters for 24,771 days, about 37 days per site. Surfers Against Sewage is holding a mass lobby of MPs from 22 to 26 October in support of a Clean Water Bill.

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