Southern Water permit breaches up 153% in one year

Among the nine water companies across England, Southern Water recorded the highest number of permit breaches in 2022

The number of times Southern Water breached its storm overflow permits increased by 153% in one year, new data has revealed.

The company registered 195 breaches in 2022, up from 77 the previous year.

Among the nine water companies across England, Southern Water recorded the highest number of permit breaches last year.

The firm disputed the figures and claimed there had been a drop in overall storm overflow activity.

Last year, Southern Water recorded 195 breaches, which included 67 overflow conditions, according to new data.

In comparison, Thames Water recorded 51 breaches and 33 overflows in 2022, while South West Water recorded 42 and 11 respectively.

Catherine Chapman, from SOS Whitstable, which campaigns to improve water quality, said: "We want to be able to use the sea for our own pleasure, for our own mental health, for the community, for Whitstable, for the tourist industry, for the fishing industry.

"To not be able to trust that you can go into the sea without it being full of raw sewage - it's infuriating and it's saddening."

'Still isn't good enough'

However, a Southern Water spokeswoman said the data was not an official record of pollution incidents.

"Based on official Environment Agency data for 2022, we have actually seen a fall in overall storm overflow activity and are already exceeding the government's expectations for spills per overflow," she said.

"However, we know this still isn't good enough and are working extremely hard to drive down storm overflows, investing significantly to optimise our infrastructure and using innovative nature-based and engineering solutions, to slow the flow of surface and groundwater into our sewers."

Industry body Water UK said breaches of overflow permits were "rare" and figures suggested they had reduced by almost 60% nationwide since 2020.

"Although permit breaches can occur for a variety of reasons, and are not necessarily linked to pollution, companies are determined to continue reducing their occurrence," a spokesperson said.

"Ultimately though, the transformation of rivers will require hard work, innovation and investment - with £56bn already planned for storm overflows alone," they added.

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