Storm overflow spend to top £9bn over PR24

Wastewater companies have set out investment plans of more than £9 billion over the five years to 2030 to tackle storm overflows to meet government targets and consumer expectations.

United Utilities (UU) and Yorkshire Water will make the largest investments in PR24 at £3.1 billion and £1.9 billion respectively due to UU having more combined sewers than most other water companies, coupled with higher-than-average rainfall.

The figure represents the largest investment in the North West’s wastewater network for a century. UU says the proposed expenditure represents a “step change” in investment through to 2050 which will see around £6 billion spent per asset management period (AMP) for wastewater enhancement.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire’s spend is driven by the historic industrial legacy of the area and the geography of the Pennines. Yorkshire is proposing its largest ever environmental improvement programme, totalling £4.3 billion.

Its storm overflow reduction plan will deliver 230 individual scheme improvements and reduce coastal overflows to a maximum of two spills each per annum by 2030, five years ahead of target.

While Yorkshire’s plan aligns with the requirements of the Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan, meeting the 2050 targets, it has disagreed with Ofgem’s proposals on the performance commitment.

Ofwat has suggested that companies should consider 20 spills per storm overflow as a baseline target at the start of AMP8. However, Yorkshire says the baseline position in AMP7 and AMP8 should be set differently for each company. It predicts its spills per year on average by the end of AMP8 will be 26.9 spills despite an investment of £180 million over AMP7.

Overall wastewater companies have shown ambition on meeting the challenge of reducing discharges from storm overflows.

Anglian is planning a 17% reduction in overflows by 2030 through an investment of £517 million, one third of the 2050 target.

The Pennon Group will spend £761 million across Devon and Cornwall as part of a 15-year investment programme to tackle 100% of storm overflows at beaches by 2030 – 10 years ahead of the target.

The company has also proposed storm overflows and pollution as one of four key areas which will dictate 70% of executive bonuses.

Others include water quality and resilience; net zero and environmental gains, and affordability and delivering for customers. The remaining 30% will remain on financials.

Last week the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) increased its forecasted total cost of tackling discharges to £60 billion, up from the £56 billion figure calculated in 2022.