‘An unacceptable amount of sewage’ still going into our waterways, despite an unusually dry 2025
Annual data released today by the Environment Agency indicated an appalling- though not surprising- picture of England’s waterways.
Nationally, there were 291,492 sewage spills in 2025, with these spills lasting for over 1.8 million hours. This national data reflects a reduction of approximately 35% in the number of sewage spills compared to 2024, largely owing to unusually dry conditions in 2025.
Here in the Yorkshire region, the number of total spills was 51,431 with a total hour spill of 285, 931 hours, with many areas individually seeing hundreds of spills.
Every single storm overflow in England now has an event duration monitor fitted, providing the most complete national picture to date.
Yorkshire Water reduces sewage discharges by 24.5%
The number of discharges into watercourses in Yorkshire decreased by 24.5% in 2025 when compared to the previous 12 months.
Discharges fell from 68,164 to 51,404 and the duration of the discharges into watercourses fell from 430,263 hours to 285,230 hours – a decrease of 33.7%. The average number of discharges per storm overflow also decreased from 31.4 in 2024 to 23.6 in 2025.
The decrease in 2025 follows a 12% reduction in discharges in 2024.
Richard Stuart, director of asset delivery and engineering, said: “A reduction in the number and duration of discharges across the region in 2025 is a positive. The dry weather in 2025 contributed to the reduction, but we also saw above average rainfall in the region in January, September, November and December. Our £180m investment over the last two years targeted over 100 storm overflows and is delivering a reduction in storm overflows across the region”
He continued, “We know we need to continue driving down the number of discharges to our rivers and seas and we’re committed to delivering those improvements over the next few years and beyond. By April 2030 we will invest £1.5bn to upgrade and improve more than 450 storm overflows, tackling those discharging the most frequently, for the longest time and those that have a significant impact on the receiving watercourse.”
‘Whole thing is a fraud’
The ardent waterways campaigner, Feargal Sharkey, told me this morning that the ‘Government is complicitly sitting back to allow water companies to knowingly and blatantly flout the law.’ He said, ‘The Government can’t pat itself on the back when we have these levels of sewage and pollution when there is no rain and we have the unique circumstances of the dry climate last year.’ Sharkey was scathing when he continued, ‘The Government is not enforcing water companies to comply and are now planning to change the law to suit water companies. The whole thing is a fraud.’
The Yorkshire campaign group, Ilkley Clean River Group, commented on today’s results saying, ‘Lower untreated discharges announced today are a result of low rainfall and drought in Yorkshire last year. Yorkshire Water’s hosepipe ban lasted 5 months from July to December.
We do not have a list of schemes from Yorkshire Water that set out where the reduction in their discharges is a direct a result of any infrastructure improvements. What we do know is that 85% of Yorkshire Water’s sewage ‘spills’ in 2024 were a direct result of lack of capacity in their infrastructure and that last year (2025) it discharged sewage illegally in dry (ie no rainfall) conditions 1,204 times (The Times Investigation 15th March). That does not include illegal early sewage discharges on which there is no data. Here in Ilkley the sewage works dumped untreated sewage illegally 11 times.’
Karen Shackleton from Ilkley Clean River Group emphasised, “Todays report creates a cover for water companies illegal pollution and neglect of our infrastructure. The figures for last year, in drought conditions, take us back to the level of pollution we had 2-3 years ago in normal weather. This is not a good news story. Yorkshire Water is still polluting illegally and the government is still failing to hold them to account”
With pressure building to re-nationalise a failing system, following recent documentaries and investigations, intervention is now necessary by Government ministers to take control in the interests of public health and safety.
A ‘clear win’ for people?
Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency, said: “Publishing this data each year ensures the public can see clearly what is happening across England’s storm overflows. “While these numbers are heavily influenced by rainfall levels in 2025, substantial reductions in spill duration and events are a clear win for people and the environment.
“It is vital that improvements to the sewage system are sustained over the long term, and the Environment Agency will continue to hold water companies to account where performance falls short.”
Water Minister Emma Hardy said: “It is good to see that storm overflow spills are down since the previous year, but there is still an unacceptable amount of sewage entering our waterways and a long way to go in cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas.
“That’s why this government is taking action. We’ve banned unfair bonuses, ringfenced a record level of investment and introduced landmark legislation to hold water companies to account – including jail time for water company executives who obstruct investigations.
“Our long term reforms will mean there is a new, single regulator focused on preventing problems before they occur. We are ending the era of water company self-monitoring, introducing new MOT-style checks on water company assets and bringing in ‘no notice’ inspections to rebuild customer trust and protect the environment.”
The Environment Agency further stated: ‘We need to see sustained maintenance and investment in water industry drainage networks to bring lasting improvements.’
Whether we see this necessary investment from the water companies remains to seen- certainly today’s news has not gone far enough to take the pressure
Climate Thoughts with Brian 