Lincolnshire County Council’s environmental boss says raw sewage entering open watercourses is ‘still too much’

Lincolnshire’s environment boss has argued that, despite some local improvements, the amount of raw sewage entering open watercourses is “still too much”.

Conservative Councillor Colin Davie, portfolio holder for economic development, environment and planning at Lincolnshire County Council, has insisted water companies need to do more to prevent it, and that the water regulator Ofwat should be more challenging in holding them to account.

According to data from the Environment Agency, water companies spilled raw sewage into the sea and rivers in England for a record 3.61 million hours in 2024.

Water companies have previously highlighted actions already taken to reduce the number of spills – which are permitted during periods of heavy rainfall through ‘storm overflows’ – as well as planned future improvements. Anglian Water plans to invest £1 billion over the next five years to tackle these spills.

“Any sewage going into the open watercourses is something we should be doing everything we can to prevent,” said Coun Davie.

He suggested that water companies need to invest in greater capacity to handle heavy rainfall events, “rather than just relying on dumping it into the sea”.

He added: “We need to see a different regulator with a lot more teeth in the future to hold the water companies to account.”

In Coun Davie’s division of Ingoldmells Rural, Anglian Water’s Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre spilled 36 times for a total of 133.27 hours into the North Sea in 2024. This is a marked reduction from the previous year, when it spilled 50 times for a total of 178.78 hours.

Similarly, the Mablethorpe Water Recycling Centre, also operated by Anglian Water, spilled 33 times for 494.97 hours into the Wold Grift Drain in 2024, down from 72 spills over 444.47 hours in 2023.

The councillor, who also serves on East Lindsey District Council, later argued that raw sewage being spilled into the sea “makes a mockery” of the Blue Flag status earned by local beaches.

The Blue Flag is an award presented to beaches that meet rigorous environmental, educational, safety and accessibility criteria. Last year, Mablethorpe, Skegness and Sutton on Sea all received the prestigious award.

“Whilst they [water companies] are allowed to do so in heavy rainfall events, it’s still not a good look in terms of our message in having some of the best beaches in the country.”

While he acknowledged the situation has shown some signs of improvement, he warned the country will continue to tread water without meaningful change, such as reforming the regulator, adding: “One promising outlook becomes next year’s disaster.”

Responding to the statistics from the Environment Agency, Labour’s Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: "These figures are disgraceful and are a stark reminder of how years of underinvestment have led to water companies discharging unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes, and seas.

"We’ve already placed water companies under tough special measures through the landmark Water Act, banning unfair bonuses for polluting water bosses and introducing criminal charges for lawbreakers.

"But we will go further and faster. That’s why this government has secured over £100 billion of private sector investment to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure and not only clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good, but also help deliver economic growth across the country as part of our Plan for Change."

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