At the same time, the companies have paid large profits to their owners.
Britain’s two largest water supply companies have dumped waste water 1,374 times into waterways in different parts of Britain over the course of two years, says a recent study according to the British newspaper The Guardian. Wastewater discharges are suspected to be in violation of the companies’ permit conditions.
The companies have permission to release wastewater into waterways during heavy rain, but according to the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution group, which analyzed weather and operational data, they seem to have done it at other times, including dry weather.
The companies, Severn Trent Water and United Utilities, have discharged wastewater into more than 80 water bodies in total. Despite that, the Environment Agency gave them the highest possible grade for consideration of the environment last year, The Guardian reports.
Minister of Water Emma Hardy commented on the revelations by saying that the government will not allow the wastewater discharges to continue.
– For too long, water companies have dumped record amounts of waste water into our rivers, lakes and seas, he told The Guardian.
Ashley Smith, founder of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, says the environmental assessment is part of the fraud that allows the privatized water sector to pay huge dividends and bonuses.
Severn Trent Water and United Utilities have paid a total of approximately 3.35 billion euros in dividends and their managers in bonuses over the course of five years, says The Guardian.