Inspections target smashed with 10,000 health checks on water network - Environment Agency

Environment Agency completes record number of water company inspections driving improved performance across the sector

The Environment Agency today (Tuesday 31 March) has expanded its surveillance of the water network to record levels, completing over 10,000 inspections of water company assets in the last year.

The surge in checks on treatment works, sewage pumping stations and storm overflows marks a major step in ensuring better performance by water companies: identifying potential problems before they occur and taking robust action where breaches are identified.

This year, the EA’s inspection teams uncovered over 3,000 permit condition breaches, where companies are failing to comply with environmental regulation. These findings led to real-world action with over 3000 individual demands for improvement issued to water companies, including repairing sewage works and upgrading infrastructure.

Deploying its largest-ever water enforcement workforce (with 500 additional staff for water regulation) and record funding, the Environment Agency’s scrutiny of the sector has increased sharply, marking one of the many significant changes the organisation has undergone to deliver tougher regulation.