England Sewage Spills Halve to 1.9M Hours in 2025

England's water companies released untreated sewage into rivers, lakes, and seas for nearly 1.9 million hours in 2025, a reduction of almost half from the previous year, primarily due to drier weather conditions, according to figures released by the Environment Agency.

The data, marking the second year of comprehensive monitoring across the country's storm overflow network, recorded 291,492 spill events, a 35 percent decrease from 450,398 in 2024. On average, each of the nearly 15,000 overflow outlets discharged sewage 20.5 times, down from 31.8 the year before. Some companies achieved reductions in spill duration exceeding 60 percent and 70 percent. The Environment Agency attributed much of the improvement to 2025 being one of the driest years on record, with rainfall 24 percent lower than in the exceptionally wet 2024. Spring 2025 was the driest in over a century, leading to drought conditions in parts of the country and even hosepipe bans by some providers.

Storm overflows activate during heavy rain to prevent the combined sewer system, which handles both wastewater and stormwater, from becoming overwhelmed and flooding homes. However, England's aging infrastructure, strained...