Is sewage leaking into rivers, lakes or seas near YOU? How spills of raw waste dirty England’s waterways once every 70 seconds

A new sewage leak dirties Britain’s streams, lakes and coasts nearly every minute, analysis suggests.

Environment Agency statistics show there were more than 450,000 spills in 2024 – equating to a record 3.6million hours in total.

Powered with the same data, the Daily Mail has made an interactive map that allows you to see whether raw sewage leaked near your home last year. To see how much filth entered water near you, click on the icon.

Spills occurred across the entire country. One sewage works in the Devon village of Salcombe Regis leaked filth into a nearby stream non-stop every single day.

It comes after almost 4,000 residents and businesses owners last week began legal action over the alleged degradation of the Wye, Lugg and Usk rivers. 

In the biggest lawsuit of its kind, the group are seeking ‘substantial damages’ and a clean-up of the rivers because of ‘extensive pollution’, including sewage. 

Despite sewage spills nationwide being worse than ever, water firms have paid out more than £112million in bonuses and incentives over the past decade – despite the ongoing issues over sewage and pollution.

Millions of households will also have to pay an extra half a billion pounds in bills after five firms were given the green light to hike charges.

Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South East Water, Southern Water and Wessex Water were all provisionally allowed to hike their bills by more than previously granted – raising an extra £556million in revenue. 

Firms wanted to put bills up to fund much-needed investment.

But campaigners say they have pocketed billions while letting sewage infrastructure crumble, arguing that households shouldn’t be made to ‘pay twice’.

In Salcombe Regis, the spills were caused by ‘infiltration’ – when non-sewage water makes its way into the sewage system through leaky pipes and drains. This causes the entire system, including foul water, to overflow.

In 2023, the same sewage treatment works leaked for a disgusting 272 days, for the same reason.

No improvement works were performed at the treatment plant last year despite being scheduled the year before.

South West Water blamed ‘illegal connections’ into the sewer network, for the high levels of spills.

A spokesperson told the Mail: ‘We are working hard to remove several illegal connections within the Salcombe Regis catchment which are contributing high levels of additional flows into the sewer network and causing high spill numbers.

Salcombe Regis waste water treatment works storm overflow leaking into Salcombe Regis stream

‘To reduce spills and protect the environment in the short-term, we have added additional treatment capacity at Salcombe Regis works. 

‘Since this work was completed on 12 August there has been one storm overflow spill.’

The Mail also understands that South West is laying out plans to increase capacity by 2030. 

It comes as Welsh Water is set to fight the UK’s biggest ever environmental pollution legal in the High Court.

Nearly 4,000 people signed a lawsuit against Welsh Water and poultry producers Avara Foods Limited and Freemans of Newent Limited, alleging extensive and widespread pollution’ in the Wye, Lugg and Usk rivers.

The claimants are seeking ‘substantial damages’ pollution in the rivers has affected local businesses, property values, recreation and tourism since August 2019.,They also ask the court to order all three companies to clean up the rivers and restore them to health.

The three companies have denied the claims to law firm Leigh Day which represents the claimants.  

Nearly 4,000 people signed a lawsuit against Welsh Water and poultry producers alleging ‘extensive pollution’ in the Wye, Lugg and Usk rivers (pictured: a bridge over the River Wye in Hereford)

There were 450,398 recorded sewage spills last year – one every 70 seconds.

These should only take place in ‘exceptional circumstances’ to prevent sewers being overwhelmed in heavy rainfall and backing up into homes.

Storm overflows let sewage spill for 3,614,428 hours in 2024, slightly up on 2023’s 3,606,170 hours, and another record high.

Five companies – Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South East Water, Southern Water, and Wessex Water – will be provisionally allowed to hike their bills by more than previously granted – raising an extra £556million in revenue, the competition watchdog said this week.

The firms argued that Ofwat’s original decision last December left them unable to meet the regulatory requirements set out for them.

Independent experts appointed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Anglian and Northumbrian should be allowed to increase their bills by a further 1%, Southern by 3%, South East by 4% and Wessex by 5%.

Southern Water had already been allowed a 53% increase to average bills over the next five years through the December ruling but had appealed for another 15%.

Anglian Water had been allowed 29% and asked for 10% more, while South East Water had been granted 24% and asked for a further 18%.

Wessex and Northumbrian – who were both allowed a 21% increase originally – asked for another 8% and 6% respectively.

The CMA said a provisional decision allowed for 21%, or an additional £556 million in revenue, of the total £2.7 billion the five firms requested.

Kirstin Baker, who chaired the independent group of experts appointed by the CMA to consider the price controls, said: ‘We’ve found that water companies’ requests for significant bill increases, on top of those allowed by Ofwat, are largely unjustified.

‘We understand the real pressure on household budgets and have worked to keep increases to a minimum, while still ensuring there is funding to deliver essential improvements at reasonable cost.’

The CMA said the extra money would fund more resilient supply, reduce pollution and reflect increased financing costs.

In December, Ofwat said it would allow water firms to raise bills by an average of £157, or 36%, over the next five years to help finance investment into crumbling infrastructure.

But in March, Ofwat formally referred requests from the five companies for a redetermination of their bill increase allowance after they argued that the decision left them unable to meet the regulatory requirements set out for them.

This started a six-month period for the CMA to consider their appeals.

Water minister Emma Hardy said: ‘I understand the public’s anger over bill rises – that’s why I expect every water company to offer proper support to anyone struggling to pay.

‘We’ve made sure that investment cash goes into infrastructure upgrades, not bonuses, and we’re creating a tough new regulator to clean up our waterways and restore trust in the system.

‘We are laser-focused on helping ease the cost of living pressure on households: we’ve frozen fuel duty, raised the minimum wage and pensions and brought down mortgage rates — putting more money in people’s pockets.’

Mike Keil, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), said: ‘Many customers are still trying to absorb the impact of April’s unprecedented rise in water bills, so any further increases will be very unwelcome.

‘CCW’s own analysis suggests there was an opportunity to reduce these five companies’ financing costs, cutting bills by around £41 a year, but instead the CMA has chosen to increase their rate of return.

‘There is a danger the customers of these companies will end up paying more, without seeing any additional improvements in return.

‘Three of these five companies also have no plans to end water poverty by 2030 and yet their customers are being exposed to bill rises that at least 40% of households say they will struggle to afford.’

A spokesperson for Water UK said: ‘No sewage spill is ever acceptable. Water companies are investing £12billion to almost halve spills from storm overflows by 2030. This is part of the largest amount of money ever spent on the natural environment to help support economic growth, build more homes, secure our water supplies and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.’ 

They added: ‘The Competition and Markets Authority’s findings are provisional and water companies will need time to understand the detail in full. If these decisions stand, the CMA has restored more than half a billion pounds in funding. This overturns the limits set by Ofwat for how much five companies can invest in their infrastructure. This process has unfortunately been necessary to secure the investment our economy and environment need.

‘As the CMA acknowledges, the system requires urgent reform. The government has said it will abolish Ofwat and set up a new regulator. The country needs that to happen as soon as possible.’

Avara foods said the claim against them regarding the River Wye was ‘based on a misunderstanding, as no manure is stored or spread on poultry-only farms that supply Avara Foods’.

The firm added: ‘Where poultry manure is used as fertiliser, it is for other produce in other agricultural sectors. Individual farmers are responsible for how nutrients are used in their arable operations. Avara is not involved in any arable operations and has no control over this activity.

‘All our poultry is produced in Britain to standards that are amongst the highest in the world. The focus instead needs to be on solutions that will improve the health of the river, addressing all forms of pollution and the effects of climate change, and for action to be taken accordingly. We employ 5,000 people in the UK and approximately 1,500 people in the catchment area, and we all want a healthy River Wye.’

A Welsh Water spokesperson said of the legal battle: ‘Welsh Water is a not-for-profit company, unlike other water companies. The amount we can charge for our services is subject to regulatory control, which therefore limits the funds available to us for re-investing into our infrastructure. Despite these financial constraints, we have made significant investments over recent years, and we have achieved real improvements in water quality.

‘In the past five years we have delivered £70 million of investment to improve our sites on the Wye River – and delivered them ahead of the target set by our regulators. We are also currently investing £33 million to improve the Usk River. Unfortunately, the water pollution caused by other sectors during this period has increased significantly, reducing the overall impact of the water quality improvements we have achieved.

‘We intend to defend this case robustly: the fact that we are a not-for-profit company means that any payments to these claimants would necessarily reduce the amount that we can re-invest in delivering further improvements for the benefit of all of our customers and the environment.’