Severn Trent pledges major work to cut spills after avoiding Ofwat fine for showing ‘genuine accountability’

Major investment to cut spills continues at pace with a commitment to further improvements - bosses at Midlands water company Severn Trent have vowed after it successfully avoided a fine for wastewater and sewage failures.

The utility company, which supplies water to more than eight million people across England and Wales, breached rules for failing to deal effectively with wastewater and sewage, regulator Ofwat said, but has avoided a penalty after taking “genuine accountability” to fix the problems.

As part of a sector-wide wastewater investigation, launched in 2021, Ofwat concluded no financial penalty would be imposed on Severn Trent - acknowledging the business’s response had set a standard expected from all water companies.

Severn Trent, which has office sites in Wolverhampton and Birmingham, said it accepts the breaches identified and pointed out that its proactive approach and investment in wastewater assets to the opening of the enforcement case has been recognised, along with its operational controls and strong oversight from the Board of Directors.

The Coventry-headquartered water company, one of Britain’s biggest, said it prioritised storm overflows more than 10 years ago and in 2023 committed to invest £450m by 2030 as part of its Spills Reduction Programme to upgrade storm overflows and storage capacity across its network.

It added that it expects to cut spills per storm overflow to an average of below 14 per year by 2030, and to achieve this, against a backdrop of climate change and population growth, will require continued investment.

To its credit, the company has co-operated with Ofwat and pledged a commitment to undertake further work to ensure future compliance.

Severn Trent’s chief executive James Jesic, who succeeded Liv Garfield in January after she stepped down after 11 years at the helm, said: “We’re delivering a significant storm overflow spills reduction programme and Ofwat has recognised this in today’s decision.

“We accept Ofwat's findings relating to issues that we proactively identified and began addressing these before the enforcement case was opened. By monitoring and investing early to put things right, we are now seeing the benefits, including reducing average storm overflow spills by 41 per cent in 2025.

“Our investment programme in spills reduction continues across our region at pace with the strength of our whole organisation and supply chain behind it. We still have work to do and remain absolutely focused on delivering further improvements for our customers and the environment.”

Severn Trent is the eighth case that Ofwat has completed in its industry-wide wastewater investigation, which has resulted in fines and enforcement packages worth more than £300m - including a £104.5m fine for Thames Water for wastewater failures.

The regulator said Severn Trent had breached its duties by failing to effectively provide drainage and deal with the contents of its sewers but it had“taken ownership of the problem, has been proactive in identifying and addressing issues with its wastewater assets and ambitious in its approach, with visible benefits already being in place”.

Ofwat said the company’s shareholders have already invested £98m in direct infrastructure improvements because Severn Trent “recognised its obligations and acted on them”.

The investment has funded extra capacity at 65 wastewater treatment sites, Flow to Full Treatment and storm tank enhancements and increased storage at storm overflows. It also includes £26m of nature-based solutions in the Mansfield area in Nottinghamshire. The enhancements all form part of an ambitious spills reduction programme launched in 2024.

Ofwat said the impact of the investment was clear in the data with the company achieving a 41 per cent year-on-year reduction in spills per storm overflow in 2025, compared to 2024, despite experiencing heavier rainfall than some other regions, and it had been a “consistent higher than average performer on this measure throughout the investigation period”.

Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: "Our investigation found serious and unacceptable breaches by Severn Trent Water — that is not in question and the company accepts it. But their response to those failures sets a standard we expect from all companies: identifying the problem, proactively investing to fix it, and cooperating openly with the regulator.

“The 41 per cent reduction in spills we are now seeing is what genuine accountability looks like in practice. We will always act where companies fail their customers and the environment. But we will also be clear, publicly, when a company does the right thing."

Severn Trent’s James Jesic succeeded former CEO Liv Garfield in January after she stepped down after 11 years at the helm at the water company, which supplies around two billion litres of drinking water each day.

The business, which employs around 10,000 people across the Midlands and was rated one of the UK’s Top 50 Best Places to work in the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards 2025, was given permission almost two years ago to increase bills to help improve infrastructure.

Water bills in Severn Trent’s patch rose by 10 per cent in April - almost twice the national average - after Ofwat announced in December 2024 that Severn Trent customers would see their bills rise by an average of 47 per cent over the coming five years.

At the time, Severn Trent announced a £15 billion plan which included more than £2 billion to be spent on improving river health and preventing storm overflows.

Steph Crawley, Severn Trent customer operations director, explained to the Express & Star last year the work the company has been doing to reduce leakage from pipes.

She said: “We are doing our part by investing £400m across our network on 843 miles of new pipes to keep supplies moving, while we have also reduced leakage by a record 16 per cent in the last five years.

“And we plan to go faster and further by reducing leakage by another 15 per cent in the next five years and halve the volume of water lost from our network by 2045.

"Investing in innovation has also been a factor in reducing leakage, including using drones to spot leaks faster, as well as our ‘no dig technology’ making it quicker and cheaper to fix leaks, while also causing less disruption to customers. We have also installed over 350,000 smart meters so far too, saving four million litres of water every day.

"We have 66 reservoirs at Severn Trent and draw water from a mix of other sources, including rivers, springs and boreholes, which means supplies are resilient during drier and hotter weather.

"We have experts managing the flow of water on our huge network around the clock, helping to ensure everyone has enough supplies when they need it.”