A minister has warned that the UK could run out of clean drinking water by the mid-2030s without an infrastructure overhaul.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed told LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that authorities may have to resort to rationing water if the system isn’t revamped by then.
Mr Reed said the increased investment would “cut sewage pollution almost in half over the next five years.
“That is a significant turnaround in a sector which has just become associated with failure and criminality,” he told Nick. “We’re going to turn it into a successful sector.
“We’re going to rebuild those sewage pipes, but we’re also going to make sure that the… clean drinking water infrastructure is there.”
The move, part of the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, comes in the face of widespread public fury over the degraded state of the country’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters and at a lack of investment in water infrastructure, rising bills, high dividends and debt and executive pay and bonuses.
Mr Reed also revealed that bosses of water companies who cover up illegal sewage spills could now face jail time.
The Environment Department (Defra) said no prison sentences have been handed to water company executives since privatisation despite widespread illegal sewage discharges, and the tougher penalties were essential because some firms have obstructed investigations.
Mr Reed told Nick: “These sentences, which didn’t exist before now [are] going to focus the minds of the people at the top of those organisations to clean up their act.”
He said in an earlier statement that “there must be accountability” and “there will be no more hiding places” for rogue bosses.
