UK Water Companies Earn £340 Million From Toxic Waste

UK water companies generated more than £340 million in revenue last year by accepting 608 billion litres of industrial and commercial wastewater into sewage treatment works. An investigation by Watershed Investigations, the Guardian, and River Action found that these facilities are primarily biological treatment plants incapable of removing toxic chemicals, including mercury, cyanide, cadmium, and PFAS. These pollutants subsequently enter farmland, rivers, and seas.

Thames Water managed the largest volume of permitted waste at 113 billion litres, while United Utilities earned the highest revenue from the practice at £61.6 million. The current trade-effluent consent system is managed by the water companies themselves without a central register or independent oversight.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency acknowledged that the regulatory framework is outdated. The government has promised reforms through a clean water bill to address the industrial wastewater trade, stating that water companies should not profit from pollution.