Water companies asked to publish sewage discharge data

We are calling on all water companies to proactively publish information relating to sewage discharges each month.

Water companies have a legal obligation to make information about the environment available under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), both proactively and if requested by the public.

Earlier this year, the UK Information Commissioner John Edwards wrote to 12 water companies, urging them to put transparency first and encouraging them to proactively publish the start and stop times of sewage discharges.

So far, only two water companies, Yorkshire Water and South West Water, have committed to publishing this information each month.

We have today published a case study of Yorkshire Water which demonstrates both how challenges in publishing this data can be overcome and the benefits of publishing frequently requested information.

Water companies already collect data on start and stop times due to a legal requirement to report to environmental regulators. By putting resource in place to verify and validate the data, and including the necessary caveats about its accuracy, Yorkshire Water has successfully published this data since September.

Warren Seddon, Director of FOI at the ICO, said: “People have no choice but to rely on these firms for clean water, so water companies need to rebuild public trust and confidence by being open about their activities and impact on the environment. Publishing sewage discharge data proactively means that the public have access to the information they need, when they need it.

“Several water companies argued that publishing this data was too challenging. The case study today shows that not only is it possible, but both organisations and the public should benefit in the long run from publishing this data each month. If this information is publicly available, it may also reduce individual EIR requests in the future - saving time and resource for everyone involved.

“I urge all water companies to prioritise building a culture where relevant information is published proactively and people receive timely responses to their requests. Making this information readily available will go a long way towards rebuilding public confidence in the sector. But we will hold water companies accountable if they do not take steps towards greater transparency.”

In October, we issued our first EIR practice recommendation to United Utilities for failing to properly handle requests for important environmental information from the public.

As well as instructing United Utilities to improve its handling of EIR requests, the practice recommendation also urged the firm to proactively publish frequently requested information.

Under the EIR, public authorities have a duty to make environmental information available proactively to the public.

Read more about our work to improve transparency from water companies here.

Find out more about the EIR here.