Thames Water Receives Lowest Rating for Environmental Failures

According to a report by the Environment Agency (EA), the environmental performance of England's water companies has significantly deteriorated in 2024. The EA's annual assessment has given Thames Water, the UK's largest water company, a dismal one-star rating for its poor environmental record.

The collective rating for the nine English water and sewerage companies has dropped to just 19 stars, down from 25 stars in 2023. This is the worst combined score since the assessment process began in 2011. The EA attributes the poor performance to a combination of factors, including wet and stormy weather, long-standing underinvestment in infrastructure, and increased monitoring and inspection that has brought more failings to light.

Notably, only Severn Trent received the top rating of four stars, while all other companies were rated as "requiring improvement" or worse. Thames Water, in particular, has been singled out for its lack of progress, with a spokesperson acknowledging that "Transforming Thames is a major programme of work that will take time; it will take at least a decade to achieve the scale of change required."

The chair of the EA, Alan Lovell, has expressed frustration, stating that "Many companies tell us how focused they are on environmental improvement. But the results are not visible in the data."