The chief executive of United Utilities has told MPs increased pollution levels are down to better monitoring and increased wet weather but admitted the company needed to do more to prevent discharges in the future.
Louise Beardmore is among the leaders of nine water companies appearing before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee.
The committee chairman Alistair Carmichael highlighted pollution incidents 2023/24 which increased by 71% and asked how that had happened.
“Last year we did see an increase 216 pollution incidents and what we experienced were two factors – 30% were caused by power resilience issues in the north west causing pollution incidents to happen and another additional factor was the number of storms experienced – 12 significant named storms,” Ms Beardmore told MPs.
She added: “We are making additional funding and investment to provide resilience….over £100m – to provide backup generation in Cumbria and Cheshire where overhead lines are susceptible to disruptions.”
Around Windermere 45 power generation, back up supplies are being installed to bring additional resilience into the system, she said.
Worst among all companies for spills and spill duration according to the Environment Agency in 2023 and responsible for over a fifth for reporting sewage overflows, she was asked to explain how this would be improved.
The installation of ‘additional monitors’ was given as one reason for the statistics but also the chief executive said 54% of sewers in the north west were ‘combined’ where sewage and surface water are drained together. This, she said, compares to a national average of 33% – on Merseyside the figure there is said to be over 80%.
A plan to reduce spills by over 60% over the next five years has been put forward.
“I’m under no illusion that we need to improve our performance….our results in a couple of weeks time for this year we will have seen a 20% reduction and 30% in duration, work we are doing is having an effect,” she told MPs.
She told MPs UU was now one of the few companies which had agreed to publish spill data every month rather than annually.
She also revealed the utility had met in person with members of the Save Windermere campaign group who had been lobbying for access to data from pumping stations around Windermere. In recent months the group had been given access to information officers, she said, as well as a direct line to herself.
Answering a question from committee member Helena Dollimore regarding the decision to appeal against a decision to reveal information to campaigners Louise Beardmore said with hindsight ‘too much time’ was spent delaying the release of data.
Helena Dollimore suggested the chief executive should pay tribute to the campaign groups involved.
“We boxed ourselves into a corner about what was environmental information and what wasn’t,” Louise Beardmore said and explained a dedicated team responding to data requests had been established.
“Those direct communication channels have been established and I think that’s also important,” she told the committee.
MPs heard six combined sewer overflows in the catchment will be replaced and 9 wastewater treatment works will be built to significantly improve water quality in the lake.
Louise Beardmore also hinted at future collaborations with NGOs and community groups to help build Windermere’s resilience to climate change.
United Utilities is scheduled to increase consumer bills by 32% over the coming five years, which will help pay for a £13.7bn investment plan in the wider region between 2025 and 2030.
