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How England’s water monopolies escape prosecution for polluting rivers
Posted
May 6, 2026
Views
41,943
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May 6, 2026
41,943
850
283
2.70%
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14:49Now PlayingImagine being able to buy your way out of a prosecution for breaking the law by donating to charity instead. That's precisely the regime that's existed for years in the water industry as it illegally releases sewage into England’s rivers.
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This programme has discovered there has not been a single completed prosecution of a water company for any of the two million sewage discharges that took place in the last five years.
It’s the dirty secret at the heart of England’s waterways. The water companies publicly insist they are cleaning up their act, but privately they have been allowed to avoid prosecution for years through a deal that lets a company admit fault and pay money to a good cause instead of facing criminal charges.
The government says its system puts money directly into cleaning up the rivers and avoids the delay of legal action, but one whistleblower tells us it means the repeat offending goes on, the company bosses escape being shamed and the water gets filthier.
Correspondent: Alex Thomson
Producers: Emily Roe, Nanette van der Laan
Cameras: Matt Symons, Justin Oliver, James Betteridge
Editors: Ricardo Marcelino; Sophie Larkin-Tannetta
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