More chance of being struck by lightning: Ofwat reveals just one fine for sewage leaks in nearly 30 years
The government unveiled its ‘Plan For Water’ last week, as the government bids to sustain water supplies and clamp down on poor performance across the industry such as sewage spills and leaking pipelines.
This includes proposals to hit suppliers with unlimited fines for waste dumping, and a further £1.1bn in funds to tackle 250 sewage overflows.
Environment Secretary Theresa Coffey is aiming to slash the annual average of spills by 10,000 by the end of the decade.
However, with 300,000 spills at overflow sites across England last year, this means the funding is set to tackle just 3.3 per cent of spills.
Meanwhile a freedom of information request from campaign group Wild Fish revealed that Ofwat has issued just one single fine to suppliers for sewage spills since the current rules were introduced in 1994 – nearly 30 years ago.
Southern Water was hit with a £126m fine by the watchdog in 2019 for breaching waste water regulations.
The government’s official data has revealed there were 301,091 sewage spills into rivers and the sea last year, on top of the 372,533 recorded in 2021 – with the slight decline in the vast totals attributed to warmer weather and droughts.
If current rates were averaged over the past 29 years since current rules were set up – this would mean there were 10.8m sewage spills – resulting in just one fine.
This would make being fined less likely than being attacked by a shark (one in seven million) and almost as unlikely as dying in a plane crash (one in 11 million).
However, Morning Wire does not have three decades of exact data – and instead can reference Environment Agency figures which confirm there have been 1.5m sewage leaks since 2016.
This means, if being more conservative, there is a 1.5m chance of being fined for leaking sewage into river.
This still makes it a less common event than being struck by lightning – which is around a one in 1.1m chance.
Morning Wire has compiled a list of other remote possibilities that are more likely than a sewage firm being fined for breaking the law.
Winning an olympic gold medal – one in 662,000
Dying in a car crash – one in 20,000
Finding a four leaf clover – one in 10,000
Seeing a shooting star – one in 1,000
Being born with 11 fingers or toes – one in 500
Living to 100 (if born today) – one in three
Ofwat has teamed up with the Environment Agency to launch a sector-wide investigation into sewage dumping , having triggered enforcement action against six companies including Thames Water for potential illegal discharges.
Both bodies have been been approached for comment.