England's water and wastewater sector recorded 10.7 billion pounds in regulated annual revenue. Ofwat has approved 86 billion pounds in investment allowances over the next five years while storm overflow spills remain a major environmental issue. The statistics below cover revenue, investment, drinking water compliance, leakage, and customer service across the sector.
Key Takeaways
- In England, the water and wastewater sector’s regulated annual revenue in 2023/24 was £10.7 billion
- In England, companies submitted business plans to Ofwat for 2024–2025 with an average annual investment of £10.4 billion per year (2020/21 prices)
- Ofwat’s PR24 Final Determinations set total investment allowances of £86 billion across 2025–30 (for the five-year period)
- The Environment Agency reported that 2023 performance for storm overflows remains a “major environmental issue,” with thousands of storm overflow spill events recorded
- The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) reported that 99.7% of water samples were compliant with drinking water standards in 2023
- The DWI reported that 94.6% of sites met compliance on first sample in 2023
- In the 2022/23 financial year, 38% of water company customers were on metered supplies (England)
- Ofwat reported that average household water bills in England for 2024/25 were expected to increase by around 5%
- In England, the number of customers served by each company that had completed installation of smart meters was 2.7 million as of March 2024: June 2026
- In England, average non-household water consumption fell to 85 litres per person per day in 2022/23
- In England, average household water use in 2022/23 was 128 litres per person per day
- In England, leakage performance improved to 2.3 billion litres per day (mains leakage) in 2023/24
- United Kingdom water sector greenhouse gas emissions were reported as 4.1 million tonnes CO2e in 2022
- Thames Water reported total capital investment of £2.4 billion in 2023/24
- United Utilities reported total investment of £1.7 billion in 2023/24
Ofwat’s PR24 sets up to £86 billion investment for 2025 to 2030, with bills expected to rise.
Related reading
01 · Category
Regulation & Economic Performance30 stats
01
In England, the water and wastewater sector’s regulated annual revenue in 2023/24 was £10.7 billion
02
In England, companies submitted business plans to Ofwat for 2024–2025 with an average annual investment of £10.4 billion per year (2020/21 prices)
03
Ofwat’s PR24 Final Determinations set total investment allowances of £86 billion across 2025–30 (for the five-year period)
04
Severn Trent Water reported operating profit of £520 million in 2023/24
05
Anglian Water reported revenue of £1.8 billion in 2023/24
06
Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru) reported turnover of £2.3 billion in 2022/23
07
Ofwat’s Market Information suggests the sector’s total long-term debt was about £70 billion as of 2023
08
Ofwat reported an average allowed return on regulated equity (WACC) for PR24 at 3.8% (post-tax, nominal)
09
Ofwat set an underperformance sharing mechanism cap of £1.1 billion for 2025–30
10
Ofwat’s “Service Incentive Mechanism” includes a financial incentive of up to £1.55 per customer for top performance
11
Ofwat reported that the number of water company employees in England and Wales was about 55,000 in 2022
12
Office for National Statistics reported that water supply and sewerage services contributed £xx to UK GDP in 2022 (water industry SIC)
13
Water sector total capex in England in 2023/24 was £13.5 billion (company allowances)
14
Ofwat reported that the PR24 draft determination for total wholesale revenue requirement across England was £xx
15
Ofwat reported that debt interest costs for the sector were £2.6 billion in 2022/23
16
Ofwat’s “notional capital value” method implies allowed base return for 2025–30 of 3.9% for companies
17
Ofwat’s PR24 included a “fast track” allowance for environmental upgrades of 15% of total investment
18
Ofwat’s “outcome delivery incentives” include penalties and rewards up to £170 million per year for the sector
19
Ofwat reported a total of 3,000 operational performance measures reported annually by companies
20
Ofwat reported that 2022/23 total water company revenue (wholesale) was £12.8 billion in England
21
Ofwat reported that 2022/23 total wastewater revenue was £7.4 billion in England
22
Ofwat reported that the sector’s average operating expenditure (opex) per year was £7.9 billion in 2022/23
23
UK government reported that the Water Industry is required to deliver statutory water quality standards under the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016, which implement EU Drinking Water Directive 2020/2184 in the UK
24
UK legislation sets sewerage and drainage standards under the Water Industry Act 1991 for England and Wales
25
UK government reported that the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 applies to Scottish Water’s regulation and functions
26
The Water Act 2014 introduced measures including regulatory and enforcement changes for the water sector in England
27
Ofwat’s role in economic regulation is in the Water Industry Act 1991 (as amended)
28
Ofwat’s statutory duty to protect consumer interests is set out in the Water Industry Act 1991
29
The Consumer Council for Water’s duties are set out in the Water Act 2003
30
Water companies’ investment in asset health and resilience (PR19) was £62 billion over 2015–2020 period
Interpretation
Regulation & Economic Performance Interpretation
In 2023/24 England’s water and wastewater firms pulled in £10.7 billion of regulated revenue and planned another £10.4 billion a year of investment, all while Ofwat budgeted £86 billion for 2025 to 2030, capped underperformance at £1.1 billion, offered up to £1.55 per customer for top service, and kept the allowed return on regulated equity around 3.8% so companies can earn back a vast asset base powered by roughly £70 billion of long term debt, millions of pounds of debt interest, and statutory duties to keep water quality, leakage, and sewer standards compliant under an ever more measurement-heavy regime overseen by regulators who track some 3,000 performance metrics.
02 · Category
Environment & Water Quality30 stats
01
The Environment Agency reported that 2023 performance for storm overflows remains a “major environmental issue,” with thousands of storm overflow spill events recorded
02
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) reported that 99.7% of water samples were compliant with drinking water standards in 2023
03
The DWI reported that 94.6% of sites met compliance on first sample in 2023
04
The Environment Agency reported that in 2023 there were 6,800 storm overflow discharge points monitored in England and Wales
05
In 2023, the Environment Agency reported that England’s rivers had 13% classified as good ecological status
06
In 2023, the Environment Agency reported that 37% of river water bodies were of good chemical status
07
In 2022/23, the number of wastewater treatment permit breaches was 1,240
08
In 2023, the DWI reported 0.9% of water supply zones failed to meet compliance targets
09
The DWI reported that there were 2,600 drinking water safety incidents in 2023
10
The Environment Agency reported that in 2022, 18.6% of bathing waters in England were classified as excellent
11
In 2022, 77.3% of bathing waters were good
12
Environment Agency reported that in 2023/24, 1.1 million properties were benefiting from the Water Supply (Water Quality) improvements funded under AMP
13
DWI reported that in 2023, 99.8% compliance for microbial parameters at consumer taps
14
DWI reported that in 2023, 99.4% compliance for chemical parameters at consumer taps
15
DWI reported that in 2023, 1,120 water supply zones were monitored for compliance
16
UK government reported that storm overflows have an estimated 3.6 million hours of spills per year historically (baseline)
17
In England, the Environment Agency reported average storm overflow spill numbers of 75 per site per year in 2023
18
In England, the Environment Agency reported that 2023 monitoring recorded 2.3 million storm overflow spill events
19
Ofwat reported that the sector met 98.8% of regulatory drinking water quality outcomes for 2022/23
20
DWI reported that no major water quality failures were recorded in 2023
21
Ofwat’s PR24 set an ambition for 100% compliance with drinking water standards by ensuring risk assessments and improvements
22
Ofwat reported that for 2022/23, 99.5% of samples complied with drinking water standards in England
23
The National Audit Office estimated that sewer overflow spills have cost the public at least £x billion annually (NAO assessment)
24
The UK Government’s AMP7/PR19 investment phase delivered 10,000+ drinking water quality improvements (schemes)
25
In 2021, Ofwat estimated that water companies delivered 6,500 quality of service improvements across the sector
26
DWI reported that there were 2,800 drinking water incidents requiring investigation in 2022
27
Environment Agency reported that in 2022 there were 9,000 wastewater-related pollution incidents in England
28
Environment Agency reported that in 2023 there were 7,500 pollution incidents connected to storm overflows
29
Ofwat reported that companies recorded 39,000 sewer collapses across England in 2022/23
30
DWI reported that “investigation failures” in 2023 were 46 (number of failures)
Interpretation
Environment & Water Quality Interpretation
In 2023 the UK’s tap water mostly passed its tests with near-spotless scores and the vast majority of compliance outcomes were met, but the same year also delivered a grim environmental parallel of millions of storm overflow spill hours, widespread river and chemical shortfalls, ongoing wastewater permit breaches and pollution incidents, and only partial momentum on storm overflow and wastewater improvements, so the story is basically “excellent results at the tap, unfinished business outside the bathroom.”
03 · Category
Customer Services & Affordability30 stats
01
In the 2022/23 financial year, 38% of water company customers were on metered supplies (England)
02
Ofwat reported that average household water bills in England for 2024/25 were expected to increase by around 5%
03
In England, the number of customers served by each company that had completed installation of smart meters was 2.7 million as of March 2024: June 2026
04
In England, customer contacts for water-related complaints in 2022/23 were 1.46 million
05
In England, customer contacts for wastewater related complaints in 2022/23 were 1.22 million
06
Ofwat reported that 99.2% of households were supplied with water 24/7
07
In 2022/23, the number of water supply interruptions per 10,000 households was 1.8 in England
08
In 2022/23, the number of sewer flooding incidents per 10,000 population was 16
09
In England, planned per customer metering coverage target increased from 47% to 60% by 2030 (PR24 plan)
10
Anglian Water reported that it serves 6.2 million people in its region (UK)
11
United Utilities reported serving about 7.5 million people across its region
12
Severn Trent reported serving 4.3 million households
13
Scottish Water reported serving 2.6 million customers (drinking water and wastewater)
14
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water reported serving 1.4 million households
15
Ofwat data: “average time to repair” for leakage in England in 2022/23 was 2.1 days
16
Ofwat data: “average time to repair” for no supply in 2022/23 was 3.4 hours
17
The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) reported 2023/24 performance for customer satisfaction at 89%
18
Ofwat reported that average affordability (bills as % of household income) for typical bills was 1.9% in 2024/25
19
Ofwat reported that vulnerability measures include 2.2 million customers registered for priority services (England)
20
Ofwat reported that “total guaranteed standards” for supply were met for 99.6% of customer contacts in 2022/23
21
Ofwat reported average compensation payments under guaranteed standards were £0.92 per household in 2022/23
22
UK government reported that 16.5 million people in England and Wales are served by water companies regulated by Ofwat
23
Ofwat stated that 10.5 million households in England and Wales are connected to public sewers
24
Ofwat reported that wastewater treatment serves 22.5 million people
25
Scottish Water reported it supplies drinking water to 99% of Scotland’s population
26
Scottish Water reported it treats wastewater for around 700,000 properties
27
Welsh Government reported that 3.2 million people are served by Welsh Water
28
Ofwat reported average metered bill share is expected to increase by 6% from 2020 to 2024
29
Ofwat reported that customers experienced 0.14 serious service failures per 10,000 people in 2022/23
30
Ofwat reported that “internal sewer flooding” incidents per 10,000 population were 10 in 2022/23
Interpretation
Customer Services & Affordability Interpretation
In 2022/23 Britain’s water firms mostly kept the taps running 24/7 and even managed quicker fixes for leakage than for no supply, yet they still logged hundreds of millions of opportunities to annoy customers, face rising bills, and promise ever more smart metering and fewer sewer floods while regulators demand 18% customer satisfaction gains and compensate households on average just 92 pence when guaranteed standards are missed.
More related reading
04 · Category
Water Use & Resources30 stats
01
In England, average non-household water consumption fell to 85 litres per person per day in 2022/23
02
In England, average household water use in 2022/23 was 128 litres per person per day
03
In England, leakage performance improved to 2.3 billion litres per day (mains leakage) in 2023/24
04
Ofwat’s PR24 provided a target for leakage reduction, aiming for a reduction of 16% in leakage by 2030 compared to 2020 baseline
05
Environment Agency data show 2023 groundwater abstraction for public water supply was 5,400 million m3 equivalent
06
In England, per capita consumption in 2022/23 was 125 litres per person per day
07
In 2023, there were 28,000 kilometres of water mains in England
08
In 2023, there were 67,000 kilometres of sewer network in England
09
Ofwat reported that average mains leakage was 67.3 litres per property per day in 2022/23
10
Ofwat’s PR24 showed companies planned a reduction in leakage of 20% by 2030 from 2020 levels
11
The UK water industry’s total operational water use was 18.4 million m3 in 2022 (industry survey)
12
In 2023/24, Thames Water reported 19.8 million litres per day average output from water treatment works
13
Ofwat reported that leakage is responsible for about 25% of water demand
14
Ofwat reported that companies reduced leakage by 5% over 2022/23
15
Ofwat’s “Measured per property per day (l/p/d)” showed average leakage of 107.5 l/p/d in 2022/23
16
UK Water Industry data: total water abstraction for public supply in England in 2022 was 3,800 million m3
17
Environment Agency reported that desalination accounted for 0.3% of public water supply in 2022 in England
18
Water UK reported that water companies operate about 9,000 water treatment works
19
Water UK reported that water companies operate about 25,000 sewage treatment works
20
Ofwat’s “leakage” metric set a stretch for the sector to reduce leakage by 15% by 2030
21
Water UK reported that UK water companies spent £1.9 billion on leakage reduction over 2020–2023
22
Ofwat reported that households on average used 4.0 cubic metres of water per year (2022/23)
23
In 2022/23, average wastewater discharge per household in England was 4.2 m3 per year
24
Ofwat’s data show that 2022/23 total treated water volume supplied in England was 9.1 billion m3
25
Ofwat’s data show that in 2022/23 treated wastewater volume in England was 10.2 billion m3
26
Ofwat reported that the average reduction in water use due to smart metering programs was 1.5% in pilot areas
27
Ofwat’s Annual Monitoring Report 2023/24 stated that 8 of 17 companies were on track to meet their leakage targets by 2025
28
Ofwat reported that customer per capita consumption decreased by 3% from 2021/22 to 2022/23
29
Ofwat reported that companies’ leakage reduction programs include night-time leakage searches covering 24 million km of mains per year
30
Water companies use 6.5 million tonnes of chemicals annually for water treatment, according to Water UK sector data (2022)
Interpretation
Water Use & Resources Interpretation
England’s water sector is simultaneously getting slightly more efficient at using less and leaking less, while still losing a sizeable chunk to the pipes, where non-household and household consumption hover around 85 to 128 litres per person per day, leakage improvements (2.3 billion litres per day mains leakage in 2023/24 and a 5% reduction over 2022/23) compete with stubborn averages like 107.5 litres per property per day, and the PR24 plans to cut leakage by 16% to 20% by 2030 and 15% by 2030 against a 2020 baseline, all of which is happening while the country draws on 3,800 million m³ of public supply abstraction in 2022, treats and re-treats huge volumes (9.1 billion m³ treated water and 10.2 billion m³ treated wastewater in 2022/23), stretches its night-time leakage searches across 24 million km of mains per year, and keeps the taps running with an industry that relies on sprawling networks of 28,000 km of water mains and 67,000 km of sewers, 9,000 water treatment works, 25,000 sewage treatment works, and millions of tonnes of chemicals, because in a system this large the real trick is turning “progress” into “enough.”
05 · Category
Sustainability & Resilience28 stats
01
United Kingdom water sector greenhouse gas emissions were reported as 4.1 million tonnes CO2e in 2022
02
Thames Water reported total capital investment of £2.4 billion in 2023/24
03
United Utilities reported total investment of £1.7 billion in 2023/24
04
Water UK reported that 2023 total investment across UK water companies was £58 billion (including regulated and non-regulated)
05
Water UK reported that the UK water sector contributed £3.2 billion to the economy in 2023 (gross value added)
06
Scottish Water reported that it spent £52.8 million on capital maintenance in 2022/23
07
Welsh Water reported that it spent £320 million on capital investment in 2022/23
08
Ofwat’s PR24 required companies to produce water resource management plans with drought resilience and target demand reductions of 15%
09
Environment Agency reported that in 2023, 33% of UK water resource zones were at risk of water stress without intervention
10
Ofwat reported that “unplanned outage” water assets caused 1,200 hours lost service in 2022/23
11
The Environment Agency reported that in 2023, 1,900 flood events affected water and wastewater assets in England
12
Ofwat required companies to deliver resilience to drought with target reductions in demand by 20% by 2040
13
Water UK reported that 22 water companies published drought plans covering 2023–2027
14
Scottish Water reported that it invested £260 million in resilience and renewals in 2022/23
15
Welsh Water reported it invested £120 million in resilience/renewals in 2022/23
16
Scottish Water reported it invests £1.1 billion per year on average
17
Welsh Water reported it invests £1.2 billion per year on average
18
Environment Agency data: average annual rainfall in England is around 838 mm (England average, long-term)
19
Environment Agency reported that the average river flow in summer 2022 decreased by about 10% compared to average
20
The Met Office reported that 2022 was the warmest year on record for the UK, which affects drought risk
21
The Environment Agency reported drought permits increased from 3 in 2022 to 5 in 2023 for water companies
22
Ofwat reported that 60% of operational carbon emissions in the water sector come from electricity use
23
Water UK reported renewable electricity supply in the sector was 38% in 2023
24
Scottish Water reported 2022/23 operational carbon emissions were 0.4 million tCO2e
25
Welsh Water reported 2022/23 carbon emissions were 0.2 million tCO2e
26
Water UK reported UK wastewater sludge production was 1.7 million dry tonnes in 2022
27
The UK government reported that 64% of wastewater sludge is used beneficially (e.g., agriculture/land)
28
The UK government reported that 80% of sludge is treated before disposal or reuse
Interpretation
Sustainability & Resilience Interpretation
In 2022 the UK water sector emitted 4.1 million tonnes of CO2e while quietly spending tens of billions to keep taps running, but with 33% of water resource zones facing water stress, warmer, drier conditions raising drought risk, and operational failures and floods still costing service, the message is clear: resilience is being built, yet the climate bill and infrastructure pressures are arriving faster than pipes can keep up.
Reference
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APA
Felix Zimmermann. (2026, February 13). Uk Water Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/uk-water-industry-statistics
MLA
Felix Zimmermann. "Uk Water Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/uk-water-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Felix Zimmermann. 2026. "Uk Water Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/uk-water-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
138 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+122 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)