Information Commissioner calls for water companies to be crystal clear with public over sewage pollution

Water companies must put transparency first if they want to rebuild public trust, we have warned.

John Edwards spoke out following ongoing public concern about sewage discharges and the lack of information made readily available to the public.

We have today written to 12 water companies, calling on them to be as transparent as possible with their customers. The letter encourages water companies to proactively disclose information relating to sewage discharges on a monthly basis. This will provide more efficient and timely details to the public, as well as being more cost effective for the water companies.

Water companies are obliged to release environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), both proactively and if requested by the public.

“My message to water companies is simple – put transparency first.

“The public has no choice but to use our water companies, therefore these companies should ensure they have every confidence in doing so. The current concerns about sewage pollution have dented this confidence, so we’re calling on these companies to be open about their activities to help rebuild this trust. It’s both their responsibility and their legal obligation.”

- John Edwards, Information Commissioner

The Commissioner’s call comes after a recent tribunal case found that a legal exception, which says releasing information will prejudice an investigation, did not apply to the requested information. It also follows the ongoing pressures being faced by water companies over sewage pollution.

In May 2024, we issued six water companies - Anglian Water, Severn Trent Water, South West Water, Northumbrian Water, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water - with decision notices requiring them to disclose the start and stop time of sewage discharges.

The EIR treats information about ‘emissions’, which includes sewage discharges, as a special category of information in that several exceptions to disclosure cannot apply. This reflects the importance of providing this type of information to the public.

Mr Edwards continued:

“In the past, water companies have argued that disclosing information could prejudice ongoing investigations. It is now clear, following this tribunal ruling, that this defence should not stand in the way of transparency – just because information could be relevant to an ongoing investigation does not necessarily mean that it cannot or should not be released.

“We will always champion transparency as a default position and will continue to work closely with Ofwat to ensure the right information is being released at the right time.”

David Black, Chief Executive at Ofwat, said:

"One of the pre-requisites for building public trust is a culture of openness. As trust in the water sector is falling, that tells us companies have more to do. They should move to embrace open data as a matter of course, and they should be more open in sharing their plans and progress.

"And they should not wait to be pushed. Customers have paid companies to install monitors and collect their data. They have a right to see what it says."

To find out more about EIR, visit our website.