Environment Agency inspections lead to over 280 calls for improvement for Wessex Water

Faulty monitoring and inconsistent maintenance at Wessex Water sites have been flagged for fixing by the Environment Agency.  

As the Environment Agency hits its annual target to carry out 10,000 inspections of the water industry, officers in the West Country reveal a range of issues discovered over 790 checks of Wessex West Water in 2025-2026.   

This includes problems at some sites with the screening system to prevent solid waste from entering watercourses. Inadequate management of stormwater storage. Leaking pipes and groundwater infiltration. Plus, inconsistent maintenance leads to blocked channels and overgrown vegetation.

Environment Agency inspectors have been checking sites intensively over the past 2 years. The goal of the checks is to prevent pollution by making sure water companies are operating as they should and within their permits. If inspections find they aren’t, then the water company is set strict actions to bring them back into compliance.  

The team responsible for inspecting Wessex Water assets, like sewage treatment works and storm tanks, increased its number of inspections by 90% from last year. 

Wessex Water has been told to take over 280 actions to comply with Environment Agency permits, and any further action being considered. Of the Wessex Water sites investigated, 72% were found to be compliant with their permits. 

Ed Lockington, water industry regulation manager for the Environment Agency, said, “Each inspection pushes Wessex Water to improve the key parts of its network we all depend upon, including the environment. 

“A strong loop of inspecting, fixing, inspecting, maintaining is at work and will help Wessex Water improve and eliminate issues before they can harm the environment.”  

Helen Wakeham, Environment Agency’s Director for Water, said, “In our role as regulators of the water industry, we are changing how we operate - with better data, our largest ever enforcement workforce and greater powers to do our job effectively.  

“Inspections are a vital preventative measure, with our teams nationally issuing over 3,000 actions to water companies, including repairing sewage works and upgrading their infrastructure. 

“Together, this will drive meaningful improvements in performance, hold persistent offenders to account, and ultimately create a cleaner water environment.” 

Although many breaches in permit conditions were relatively minor, in terms of potential for pollution to occur, they are indicative of a water company’s approach to managing and maintaining its operations to protect the environment. Even minor breaches in permits must be actioned by water companies to ensure operations are compliant with permit conditions. More serious breaches, where there is found to be a higher potential for pollution, can be referred for further investigation, which could lead to prosecution or other enforcement action.  

As well as rooting out operating issues, all the data and information gathered is enabling the Environment Agency to build better intelligence on water company operations, and trends in non-compliance, which in turn will better inform its regulatory approach going forward.  

More regulatory staff, increased monitoring of storm overflows, greater powers, and more inspections are part of a suite of measures to improve the water industry’s environmental performance. Investment in new infrastructure is also essential, and the Environment Agency and Natural England have already secured £22.1 billion water industry investment commitments for the next five years to upgrade and improve infrastructure to meet tighter environmental standards. Wessex Water is set to invest £3.5 billion of this over this period.