SOUTH West Water has again been told improvement is required as its number of pollution incidents continue to hold down its Environment Agency performance rating.

The Environment Agency (EA) has called on water companies to urgently improve their performance as the latest Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) for 2024 reveals the lowest ratings since the process began in 2011.

For the fourteenth year in a row – since the EPA began – South West Water has again scored ‘red’ for its number of pollution incidents.

The number of serious pollution incidents also significantly increased.

The EPA report is an independent comparison of environmental performance across the sector.

Since 2011, the EA has used the EPA to rate each company in England from 1 star to 4 stars, to highlight where improvement in water company performance is required.

In 2024, the nine companies collectively achieved just 19 stars out of a possible 36, down from 25 in 2023.Only Severn Trent Water received the top four-star rating for industry-leading EPA performance.

This is the lowest number of stars overall since the EPA process began.

South West Water has never risen above a 2 star rating since the EPA began.

In 2024 it was responsible for 189 pollution incidents, just five less than the previous year; four of these were classed as serious pollution incidents.

Clarissa Newell, the Environment Agency’s water industry regulation manager for Devon and Cornwall, said: ‘The beauty of the Devon and Cornwall coastline brings both visitors and stress to the water and sewage network.

‘That is a big challenge for South West Water and improvement is within its reach. It needs to get better at building for the future rather than responding to failure’.

However, criteria have been regularly tightened over the years to reflect rising expectations for water company performance, so the bar is higher than ever.

Based on current criteria we can see a steady trend of improvement since 2011—but these results mark a dip in that trend.

Serious incidents—those causing significant environmental harm—have increased by 60% compared with 2023. Thames Water, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water were responsible for 81% of these serious incidents, while Northumbrian Water and Wessex Water recorded none.

Access to more data than ever before, and increased monitoring and inspections, allow for a clearer understanding of water company performance – and following the latest star ratings, the EA has urgently called for a fundamental shift in culture and behaviour across the sector.

The Environment Agency inspected 335 South West Water sites and assets last year and is committed to doubling the number of site and asset inspections by April 2026 as part of its overall goal of 10,000 inspections.

Environment Agency Chairman Alan Lovell, said: ‘This year’s results are poor and must serve as a clear and urgent signal for change.

‘What is needed now from every water company is bold leadership, a shift in mindset, and a relentless focus on delivery.

‘We will support them however we can but will continue to robustly challenge them when they fall short.’

The report cites a number of factors for the decline in performance, including the wet and stormy weather in 2024, underinvestment and poor maintenance of infrastructure, and also increased monitoring and inspection.