Two recent conversations have made me reflect on England’s issue with water regulation.
When I offered a visitor a glass of water a few days ago, she informed me that she only drinks bottled water from the supermarket because of her mistrust of South West Water, ever since a cryptosporidium outbreak in 2024. This left hundreds ill and thousands of households dependant on bottled or boiled water. Lacking faith in the water from your tap may appear ludicrous, though a few days later I had a conversation with a family friend about the new 2026 factual drama Dirty Business.
The three-part Channel 4 series focuses on the story of Heather Preen, who died aged 8 after contracting E Coli O157 in 1999, shortly after swimming in Dawlish. The beach had been given a Blue Flag Award for water quality, despite concerns about sewage pollution. The inquest into Preen’s death the following year was ultimately non-conclusive, despite six primary cases of E Coli O157 being recorded by swimmers in Dawlish around the time of her death. One father had three children hospitalised after they swam in the sea and, in the days leading up to Preen’s visit, there had been 14 complaints registered to the Environment Agency about sewage in Dawlish. Just yesterday, it was announced that the former CEO of Southern Water, Matthew Wright, is facing a trial over allegations that his team manipulated sewage wastewater testing results to avoid millions of pounds of fines – it’s not surprising that the public have little faith in our water.
England’s dire problem with water pollution stems from underinvestment since Margaret Thatcher’s 1989 Water Act, which privatised the ten regional water authorities in England and Wales (in 2001, Welsh Water returned to public ownership). This made our water sector the only fully privatised water system in the world. David Cameron’s coalition government from 2010-2015 further deregulated the sector, with the 2014 Water Act introducing more competition into the commercial water market, and his ‘Red Tape Challenge’ scrapping hundreds of water regulation rules and reducing Environment Agency funding by almost two thirds.
So what does this mean? Our water is more polluted than ever before – in 2024, water companies dumped raw sewage into England’s rivers and seas for the equivalent of 3.61 million hours. My nearest river, the River Otter, has been directly affected by this. In 2024, South West Water released untreated sewage into the river for more than 9,500 hours. I grew up on these river beds, regularly paddling and playing with minnows in the river when I was younger, though now the once biodiverse waters appear murky and sludgy. My nan used to say she wanted her ashes scattered in a specific area of the River Otter where she used to play as a child, though I doubt she would want that now, since the darting kingfishers and aquamarine dragonflies have been replaced with dirty toilet paper and used sanitary products. Devon beaches like Dawlish have also been damaged – earlier in June, the Environment Agency announced ‘no swim’ warnings in Teignmouth, Dawlish, Seaton and Exmouth because of water pollution. South West Water has received a red rating for its environmental protection for 14 consecutive years, responsible for 189 separate major pollution incidents.
In January, a government white paper titled Vision for Water sparked hopes about the future of the UK’s water system. The government’s key intentions are to reshape regulators under a more centralised system, create regional water bodies and ensure that water companies plan ahead on a 25 rather than 5 year time scale. Vision for Water is a step in the right direction particularly regarding the financing of water companies, with proposals for a requirement for regulators to agree specific percentages of return for investors. However, the white paper has been criticised by prominent campaign groups like Surfers Against Sewage for being too vague, and for altering the regulation process rather than the role of privatised water companies themselves. The 2025 Independent Water Commission chaired by Sir John Cuncliffe received similar criticism for its emphasis on regulating private water companies instead of nationalisation. Surfers Against Sewage have instead called for the government to take failing water companies under their control using their Special Administration Regime powers.
The new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has an interesting track record regarding the water sector. His only direct commitment is to nationalise Thames Water, stating it’s “what should be done”. However, he also said about the entirety of the water sector, “I don’t think you necessarily nationalise the whole thing straight off, because that’s complicated and probably expensive, but you look at the different situations in different parts of the country”. Perhaps he was alluding to some of the problems Welsh Water has faced since nationalisation, though maintaining his commitment to devolution and “more public control, more public ownership” on a long-term timeframe. The water sector in England remains a mismanaged ‘dirty business’, though increased public awareness and scrutiny is promising. In short, I’ll stick to drinking tap water – for now.
I hope you found this an interesting and informative read, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the issue! Feel free to send me an email (my address is mayrosepuckey@gmail.com) or contact me on Instagram or Substack (@maypuckey).
