Water companies have performance targets for how much sewage they can release. The regulator, Ofwat, uses these targets to measure whether the companies adequately deliver the services customers pay for.
The six companies – Thames Water, Severn Trent Water, Northumbrian Water, United Utilities, Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water – have been accused of underreporting the number of raw sewage spills released into seas and waterways in the UK.
Environmental consultant Professor Carolyn Roberts and law firm RPC, who are leading the case, have issued letters to each of the six firms notifying them of their intention to take legal action on behalf of nearly one million non-household customers.
“Neither the public, nor businesses, charities and other organisations should be paying for sewage treatment, when on so many occasions untreated wastewater is spilling into our waterways,” she said.
Professor Roberts and RPC have also launched a separate case against the companies for allegedly overcharging 35 million household water customers, which The i Paper revealed could force the firms to pay up to £1.5bn in damages.
All affected customers will be automatically entitled to compensation, unless they choose to opt out.
It added that bills would be automatically reduced if the firms failed to deliver on their commitments.
Professor Carolyn Roberts is leading both legal actions against the water companies (Photo: supplied)Professor Hammond found “there were many instances where [water companies] were breaching permits” and “underreporting their spills of untreated sewage”.
The i Paper has also revealed that hundreds of permits allowing water companies to release sewage into England’s rivers have not been updated by Government officials for decades.
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Read MoreRPC partner Zoe Mernick-Levene, who is leading both cases, said: “We believe that water companies have hidden for many years the true level of sewage spills at their plants and across their sewage network. Important work done by campaigning groups up and down the country has begun to uncover the extent of those unreported spills.
“If this claim is successful, businesses, charities and local government will be able to recover the money they have paid to the water companies, which these companies did not deserve.”
“Building on the excellent and detailed work in the current household class action, we are now at a stage where we can take the first steps to launch this new claim.”
How much compensation could households receive?
The amount of compensation each household may be paid if the £1.5bn case against six of the UK’s biggest water companies succeeds will depend on which one provides their wastewater services.
Northumbrian Water customers will be paid the highest amount of compensation, receiving up to £109.38 each.
This is followed by customers of Yorkshire Water (£101.59) and United Utilities (£66.98).
Here’s a summary of the damages each company may have to pay their customers:
Thames Water: at least £159.1m may be paid to 11.46 million customers (£13.89 each) Anglian Water: up to £69.5m may be paid to 4.8 million customers (£14.45 each) Northumbrian Water: up to £225.1m may be paid to 2.06 million customers (£109.38 each) Yorkshire Water: up to £390.9m may be paid to 3.85 million customers (£101.59 each) United Utilities: up to £378m may be paid to 5.6 million customers (£66.98 each) Severn Trent: up to £322.5m may be paid to 8.1 million customers (£39.71 each)Water companies are allowed to discharge sewage during exceptionally wet periods to prevent their systems from being overwhelmed, but concerns have been raised over how often this has been happening.
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Read MoreThe bill rises mean that households in England and Wales will pay around £31 more per year from April.
“The regulator has confirmed that over 99 per cent of sewage works comply with their legal requirements.
None of the water companies involved responded to a request for comment. Water UK said it was unable to comment on the second claim.
The Consumer Council for Water and Ofwat declined to comment on the proceedings. The Environment Agency has been contacted for comment.
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