Ofwat urged to do more to make water firms protect environment

Pollution at a weir on the Jubilee River in Taplow, Buckinghamshire. In 2020, water companies released raw sewage via storm overflows into rivers more than 400,000 times. Photograph: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock

Ofwat must do more to make the water industry in England and Wales protect the environment, the government has said.

Setting out the priorities for the regulator for the next five years the environment minister Rebecca Pow said water companies should significantly reduce the frequency and volume of sewage discharges from storm overflows.