Over 740 inspections have been carried out at Thames Water’s sewage facilities, the Environment Agency has confirmed.
Sector regulators, including squads assembled in recent years specifically to boost industry standards, have been examining sites across the region.
These reviews seek to halt contamination by verifying that water suppliers operate correctly and comply with their authorisations, setting out what remedial action is needed when they do not.
Assessments of sewage infrastructure, including treatment works and storm tanks, have already helped uncover breaches of Thames Water’s permit terms over the past year, the agency said.
As a result, the water company has been told to implement more than 270 actions across its sewage network to satisfy permit conditions.
Seventy-six percent of the sites scrutinised were found to be compliant with their permit terms.
Karen Andrews, the Environment Agency’s regulation manager, said Thames Water achieved a One Star rating in its latest environmental performance assessment.
The newly created water industry regulation teams have been working hard, conducting an unprecedented volume of inspections, to pinpoint where improvements are required and hold the company to account, and the impact is already becoming apparent.
Water companies must run and maintain their assets in a way that protects the environment.
We want to see an approach where issues are spotted and fixed before they damage our rivers and seas.
Helen Wakeham, the Environment Agency’s director for water, said they were overhauling their methods by using better data, their biggest-ever enforcement workforce, and greater powers to carry out their duties effectively.
Inspections are a vital preventative measure, with teams nationwide issuing over 3,000 notices to water companies covering everything from sewage works repairs to infrastructure improvements.
Together, this will drive major performance enhancements, hold serial offenders to account, and ultimately deliver a healthier water environment.
While many permit breaches were deemed relatively minor in terms of pollution risk, they illustrate how a water company manages and maintains its operations to safeguard the environment.
Water companies must address even minor permit breaches to ensure their activities meet permit conditions.
More serious breaches with higher pollution potential can be referred for further investigation, which may lead to prosecution or other enforcement action.
As well as spotting operational issues, all gathered data and information is enabling the Environment Agency to develop a better understanding of water company practices and patterns of non-compliance, which will subsequently improve its regulatory approach going forward.