Performance of Water firms titled: “Not up to the mark”

Pollution is one of the biggest problems that we all are dealing with in the present day. There is need of serious efforts on the part of government and individuals on this front. There are various water companies in England that make the effort of protecting the environment. The problem is that the efforts being made by the water companies are not acceptable as per the Environment Agency. As per the agency, only one of the nine major water companies in England is performing at the expected level. Only Northumbrian Water has so far achieved the highest four star rating. In the month of June, the water company has agreed to make a payment of more than £1.1m after accepting responsibility for nearly five historical environmental offences. Emma Howard Boyd, the Environment agency chairwoman stated that there is absolutely no way of ignoring the fact that the performance of the water companies has been highly unacceptable in the year 2018. She remarked that the agency is forced to make its rules, regulations and inspections even tougher with an emphasis on tackling the behavior which causing most of the damage to the environment. The agency director is of the view that it is essential for water companies to clean up their own act. On the contrary, Water UK chief executive Michael Roberts stated that the assessment is disappointing because the firms had made comparatively more progress to improve the environment than recorded. The assessment has rated six out of nine companies as good or better in the assessment. It is believed that the most serious pollution incidents are down 18% on the previous year but there is much more to do across the board so as to achieve the high standards which people rightly expect the water companies to meet up. Servern Trent water is highly disappointed with its rating which has achieved the top mark in the year 2013, 2015 and 2017 with figures masking real successes such as the reintroduction of shad which is a type of fish which is highly sensitive to pollution. South West Water stated that it has achieved its best ever wastewater performance in the year 2018 but has voluntarily acknowledged that there still a lot more that needs to be done in order to improvise the situation and bring it under control. We all have to make sure that we deliver the 2020 targets well.
By: Preeti Narula
Content: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-48934421