Official figures detailing water pollution incidents in Britain may be undercounting the actual number of events by as much as 20 percent, according to a whistleblower. Robert Forrester, a former Environment Agency (EA) employee, stated that data released by the agency does not reflect hundreds of pollution incidents, with some water suppliers not included in the published figures at all.
In 2024, official EA data reported 2,801 water pollution incidents, an increase of 29 percent from the previous year, which the agency described as "unacceptable." However, figures obtained by Forrester through Freedom of Information requests reveal a total of 3,513 recorded pollution incidents involving water companies in England for the same year. This suggests that one-fifth of these incidents were not included in the public data.
The number of serious incidents, defined as those with a significant or severe impact on the environment, also saw an increase. The reported figure was 92, a 19 percent rise from the prior year. Forrester attributes these discrepancies to delays in categorizing incidents and lengthy appeal investigations, noting that updates are not published to reflect these changes. He also stated that the EA's reports exclude land and air pollution incidents by water firms, meaning these are not disclosed to the public.
Forrester, who worked for the EA for over two decades, accused the agency's leadership of "covering up" the true scale of pollution and prioritizing the protection of the water industry over regulation. He indicated that many serious incidents face delays in reporting or are downgraded without proper investigation. Forrester asserted that this situation reflects a "culture of deception to the public" and a continued restriction on frontline staff who wish to hold water companies accountable.
According to Forrester, the majority of incidents excluded from the official record are due to challenges from water companies regarding their categorization, which he argues obscures the real number of serious incidents occurring.
Thames Water was identified as the worst offender in the discrepancies. The EA reported 523 total incidents for the company in 2024, with 33 classified as serious. The figures obtained by the Daily Mail show a higher reality of 696 total incidents, including 39 serious cases, a difference of 186 pollution episodes.
Anglian Water's total incidents increased by 133 to 649, while Southern Water saw a rise of 68 incidents, bringing its total to 400.
The new data also casts doubt on the EA report's assertion that extremely wet and stormy weather was the primary cause of water companies' poor performance in 2024. Pollution incidents in 2025 decreased by only 6 percent, despite the year being significantly drier with widespread drought conditions. While serious incidents did decline to 78 in 2025, ten water companies still reported more pollution incidents than the previous year.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency stated that the agency receives 100,000 reports annually and assesses every one. They asserted that the number of publicly reported pollution incidents is not significantly lower than reality and that the discrepancies arise from comparing "two completely different data sets." The EA maintains its commitment to transparency, has strengthened its approach to tackling water pollution, and does not hesitate to prosecute companies that break the law.