Sewage spills from storm overflows in 2023, by water company
United Utilities had the highest average number of sewage spills per storm overflow in England last year.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Here are the latest figures for sewage spills from storm overflows in England, broken down by water company.
In each section the companies are listed alphabetically, with the equivalent data for 2022 included in brackets.
All figures have been published by the Environment Agency.Number of hours of sewage spills from monitored storm overflows
– Anglian Water: 273,163 hours (2022: 89,514 hours)– Northumbrian Water: 280,029 hours (107,536)– Severn Trent Water: 440,446 hours (249,116)– South West Water: 530,737 hours (290,271)– Southern Water: 317,285 hours (146,819)– Thames Water: 196,414 hours (74,693)– United Utilities: 656,014 hours (425,491)– Welsh Water (in England): 23,354 hours (9,470)– Wessex Water: 372,341 hours (129,957)– Yorkshire Water: 516,386 hours (232,054)– Total: 3,606,170 hours (1,754,921)
Average duration of sewage spills from monitored storm overflows
– Anglian Water: 8.6 hours (2022: 5.6 hours)– Northumbrian: 6.0 hours (3.6)– Severn Trent: 7.3 hours (5.6)– South West Water: 9.1 hours (7.7)– Southern Water: 10.8 hours (8.8)– Thames Water: 11.6 hours (9.3)– United Utilities: 6.7 hours (6.1)– Welsh Water (in England): 5.6 hours (3.4)– Wessex Water: 9.0 hours (5.9)– Yorkshire Water: 6.6 hours (4.3)– All companies: 7.8 hours (5.8)
Total sewage spills from monitored storm overflows
– Anglian Water: 31,623 (2022: 16,082)– Northumbrian Water: 46,492 (29,697)– Severn Trent Water: 60,253 (44,765)– South West Water: 58,249 (37,649)– Southern Water: 29,494 (16,688)– Thames Water: 16,990 (8,014)– United Utilities: 97,537 (69,245)– Welsh Water (in England): 4,204 (2,800)– Wessex Water: 41,453 (21,878)– Yorkshire Water: 77,761 (54,273)– All companies: 464,056 (301,091)
Average number of spills per monitored storm overflow
– Anglian Water: 22.2 (2022: 15.3)– Northumbrian Water: 30.1 (20.3)– Severn Trent Water: 24.9 (18.4)– South West Water: 43.4 (28.5)– Southern Water: 30.7 (17.8)– Thames Water: 27.9 (17.0)– United Utilities: 45.4 (35.1)– Welsh Water (in England): 35.0 (23.3)– Wessex Water: 32.0 (18.5)– Yorkshire Water: 35.9 (25.6)– Overall average: 33.1 (23.0)