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Research and analysis

Severn Trent Water EPA data report 2025

Published 29 October 2026

Applies to England

This report provides company specific data and information on the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) metrics. It contains current year and historic performance data (as published at the time, based on data provided in part by the water and sewerage companies). For further information on what each EPA metric and performance star ratings mean see our EPA metric guide.

In addition to the EPA metrics, this report contains a section on event duration monitoring (EDM) of storm overflows. For a comparison between water and sewerage companies and wider regulatory information see the environmental performance of the water and sewerage companies in 2025 report.

We set targets for each EPA metric. Water and sewerage company performance is then given a red, amber or green (RAG) status:

  • red – significantly below target
  • amber – below target
  • green – achieved target

We review and revise thresholds every 5 years.

1. EPA metric status and performance star rating

Main facts

For 2025:

  • red status for 0 metrics, amber status for 1 metric and green status for 5 metrics
  • only company (out of 9) rated as industry leading (4 stars)

Annual performance star rating after assessment of Severn Trent Water’s performance across all EPA metrics

Year Overall EPA star rating (out of 4) Star rating description
2011 3 stars Above average company
2012 3 stars Above average company
2013 4 stars Industry leading company
2014 3 stars Above average company
2015 4 stars Industry leading company
2016 3 stars Good company
2017 4 stars Industry leading company
2018 3 stars Good company
2019 4 stars Industry leading company
2020 4 stars Industry leading company
2021 4 stars Industry leading company
2022 4 stars Industry leading company
2023 4 stars Industry leading company
2024 4 stars Industry leading company
2025 4 stars Industry leading company

Annual percentage of red, amber or green (RAG) status EPA metric results for Severn Trent Water

Graph note: there were 6 EPA metrics in the years 2011 to 2015, 2018 to 2021, and 2025. There were 7 EPA metrics in the years 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Annual number of EPA metrics and their RAG status results for Severn Trent Water

Year Number of metrics in EPA Number of red metrics Number of amber metrics Number of green metrics
2011 6 0 5 1
2012 6 0 4 2
2013 6 0 1 5
2014 6 0 2 4
2015 6 0 0 6
2016 7 0 2 5
2017 7 0 1 6
2018 6 0 3 3
2019 6 0 1 5
2020 6 0 1 5
2021 6 0 1 5
2022 7 0 0 7
2023 7 0 1 6
2024 7 0 1 6
2025 6 0 1 5

2. Total pollution incidents (sewerage) metric (category 1 to 3)

Main facts

For 2025:

  • 19 sewerage pollution incidents per 10,000km of sewer – this is rated as green
  • 178 actual incidents (needed 182 or fewer to be rated as green)
  • 93,525km sewer length – from financial year ending 2018 (this baseline is used in the EPA)
  • performance was better than the sector (41) for sewerage pollution incidents per 10,000km of sewer
  • only water and sewerage company (out of 9) to be rated green

Annual number of pollution incidents (category 1 to 3) from Severn Trent Water sewerage assets, with EPA status

2011 to 2015 data

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
EPA status amber amber amber amber green
Incidents per 10,000km sewer 80 67 79 65 47
Actual incident numbers 438 365 431 354 256

2016 to 2020 data

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
EPA status amber amber amber amber green
Incidents per 10,000km sewer 30 30 31 26 21
Actual incident numbers 274 280 287 243 190

2021 to 2025 data

Year 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
EPA status green green amber amber green
Incidents per 10,000km sewer 22 21 26 29 19
Actual incident numbers 204 193 239 274 178

Annual number of pollution incidents (category 1 to 3) from Severn Trent Water sewerage assets, also showing EPA status and thresholds

Graph note: the EPA RAG status thresholds are set for normalised (per 10,000km sewer) numbers of sewerage incidents (see our EPA metric guide). We review and revise thresholds every 5 years. Equivalent thresholds for actual incident numbers are calculated using water company sewer length data – these are shown in the graph background and the table below.

EPA thresholds for actual number of Severn Trent Water sewerage incidents for the calendar years 2011 to 2025

Calendar year Red status Amber status Green status
2011 to 2015 708 or above 276 to 707 275 or below
2016 457 or above 236 to 456 235 or below
2017 460 or above 237 to 459 236 or below
2018 to 2020 458 or above 236 to 457 235 or below
2021 389 or above 220 to 388 219 or below
2022 370 or above 211 to 369 210 or below
2023 351 or above 202 to 350 201 or below
2024 342 or above 192 to 341 191 or below
2025 323 or above 183 to 322 182 or below

Number of pollution incidents (category 1 to 3) from Severn Trent Water sewerage and water supply assets in 2025

Asset type Number of pollution incidents (category 1 to 3)
Combined sewer overflow 6
Foul sewer 85
Other water industry premises 0
Pumping station 39
Rising main 17
Sewage treatment works 31
Storm tank 0
Surface water outfall 0
Water distribution system (water supply) 40
Water treatment works (water supply) 4

Note: water distribution system and water treatment works (both water supply assets) are not part of the EPA total pollution incidents (sewerage) metric.

Number of pollution incidents (total and breakdown of categories 1 to 3) from Severn Trent Water sewerage and water supply assets in 2025

Asset type Category 1 to 3 Category 1 Category 2 Category 3
Combined sewer overflow 6 0 0 6
Foul sewer 85 0 0 85
Other water industry premises 0 0 0 0
Pumping station 39 0 0 39
Rising main 17 2 0 15
Sewage treatment works 31 0 0 31
Storm tank 0 0 0 0
Surface water outfall 0 0 0 0
Water distribution system (water supply) 40 0 0 40
Water treatment works (water supply) 4 0 0 4

3. Serious pollution incidents (sewerage and water supply) metric (category 1 and 2)

Main facts

For 2025:

  • 2 serious incidents – this is rated as amber (needed 1 or fewer to be rated as green)
  • 2 serious incidents from sewerage assets
  • 0 serious incidents from water supply assets
  • 1 of 2 water and sewerage companies (out of 9) to be rated amber, no companies rated green

Annual number of serious pollution incidents (category 1 and 2) from Severn Trent Water assets (sewerage and from 2021 including water supply), with EPA status

2011 to 2015 data

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
EPA status amber amber green amber green
Serious incidents per 10,000km sewer 2.6 2.2 1.3 1.6 0.2
Actual serious incident numbers – sewerage 14 12 7 9 1

2016 to 2020 data

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
EPA status amber green amber green green
Serious incidents per 10,000km sewer 0.8 0.2 0.6 0.3 0.1
Actual serious incident numbers – sewerage 7 2 6 3 1

2021 to 2025 data

Year 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
EPA status amber green green green amber
Serious incident numbers – all assets 4 1 0 1 2
Serious incident numbers – sewerage 3 1 0 1 2
Serious incident numbers – water supply 1 0 0 0 0

Annual number of serious pollution incidents (category 1 and 2) from Severn Trent Water assets (sewerage and from 2021 including water supply), also showing EPA status and thresholds

Graph note: for 2011 to 2020 EPA RAG status thresholds were set for normalised (per 10,000km sewer) numbers of serious sewerage incidents (see our EPA metric guide). Equivalent thresholds for actual serious sewerage incident numbers were calculated using water company sewer length data. We review and revise thresholds every 5 years. For 2021 to 2025 water and sewerage companies are in one of two groups with different thresholds set for actual serious sewerage and water supply incident numbers. The thresholds for actual serious incident numbers are shown in the graph background and the table below.

EPA thresholds for number of serious incidents from Severn Trent Water assets (sewerage and from 2021 including water supply) for the calendar years 2011 to 2025

Calendar year Red status Amber status Green status
2011 to 2015 22 or above 9 to 21 8 or below
2016 to 2020 14 or above 6 to 13 5 or below
2021 and 2022 6 or above 4 or 5 3 or below
2023 and 2024 5 or above 3 or 4 2 or below
2025 4 or above 2 or 3 1 or 0

Number of serious pollution incidents (category 1 and 2) from Severn Trent Water sewerage and water supply assets in 2025

Asset type Number of serious pollution incidents (category 1 and 2)
Combined sewer overflow 0
Foul sewer 0
Other water industry premises 0
Pumping station 0
Rising main 2
Sewage treatment works 0
Storm tank 0
Surface water outfall 0
Water distribution system (water supply) 0
Water treatment works (water supply) 0

4. Self-reporting of pollution incidents (sewerage and water supply) metric

Main facts

For 2025:

  • 88% of all incidents self-reported, 97% from just pumping stations (PS) and sewage treatment works (STW) combined – this is rated as green
  • 196 self-reported incidents, 26 incidents reported by others
  • performance was better than the sector (87%) for self-reporting of all pollution incidents
  • performance was better than the sector (93%) for self-reporting of just PS and STW pollution incidents combined
  • 1 of 8 water and sewerage companies (out of 9) to be rated green

Annual self-reporting of pollution incidents (category 1 to 3) from Severn Trent Water sewerage and water supply assets, with EPA rating

2011 to 2015 data

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
EPA status amber amber green green green
Percentage of incidents self-reported 66 62 69 71 77
Number of incidents self-reported 299 234 308 261 218

2016 to 2020 data

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
EPA status green green green green green
Percentage of incidents self-reported 79 80 79 78 76
Number of incidents self-reported 241 263 260 229 177

2021 to 2025 data

Year 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
EPA status green green green green green
Percentage of incidents self-reported 80 87 89 90 88
Number of incidents self-reported 200 225 248 271 196
Percentage of PS and STW incidents self-reported 95 93 99 100 97
Number of PS and STW incidents self-reported 58 56 104 122 68

Annual self-reporting of pollution incidents (category 1 to 3) from Severn Trent Water sewerage and water supply assets, also showing EPA status and thresholds

Graph note: the EPA RAG status thresholds (for all sewerage and water supply assets) are shown in the graph background and in the EPA metric guide. We review and revise thresholds every 5 years. From 2021 the additional number in brackets is the self-reporting percentage for just PS and STW incidents combined. To achieve green status self-reporting for all assets must be 80% or above and for just STW and PS combined must be 90% or above.

Self-reporting of pollution incidents (category 1 to 3) from Severn Trent Water sewerage and water supply assets in 2025

Asset type Number of pollution incidents self-reported (category 1 to 3) Number of pollution incidents not self-reported (category 1 to 3)
Combined sewer overflow 6 0
Foul sewer 69 16
Other water industry premises 0 0
Pumping station 38 1
Rising main 15 2
Sewage treatment works 30 1
Storm tank 0 0
Surface water outfall 0 0
Water distribution system (water supply) 35 5
Water treatment works (water supply) 3 1

Self-reporting of serious pollution incidents (category 1 to 2) from Severn Trent Water sewerage and water supply assets in 2025

Asset type Number of serious pollution incidents self-reported (category 1 to 2) Number of serious pollution incidents not self-reported (category 1 to 2)
Combined sewer overflow 0 0
Foul sewer 0 0
Other water industry premises 0 0
Pumping station 0 0
Rising main 1 1
Sewage treatment works 0 0
Storm tank 0 0
Surface water outfall 0 0
Water distribution system (water supply) 0 0
Water treatment works (water supply) 0 0

5. Discharge permit compliance (numeric) metric

Main facts

For 2025:

  • 99.3% numeric discharge permit compliance – this is rated as green
  • 689 permitted discharge outlets from STW – 99.3% compliance (5 non-compliant STW)
  • 49 permitted discharge outlets from water treatment works (WTW) – 100% compliance (0 non-compliant WTW)
  • performance was better than the sector (97.4%) for numeric discharge permit compliance
  • 1 of 2 water and sewerage companies (out of 9) to be rated green

Annual discharge permit compliance (numeric) for Severn Trent Water (STW and from 2016 includes WTW), with EPA status

2011 to 2015 data

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
EPA status amber green green green green
Percentage permit compliance 97.5 99.1 99.3 99.9 99.0
Number of permitted discharge outlets from STW 708 705 704 707 708
Number of non-compliant STW 18 6 5 1 7

2016 to 2020 data

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
EPA status green green amber green green
Percentage permit compliance 99.6 99.6 98.4 99.6 99.6
Number of permitted discharge outlets from STW 703 768 716 714 707
Number of permitted discharge outlets from WTW 30 46 45 47 48
Number of non-compliant STW 1 1 10 1 2
Number of non-compliant WTW 2 2 2 2 1

2021 to 2025 data

Year 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
EPA status green green green green green
Percentage permit compliance 99.3 99.3 99.5 99.5 99.3
Number of permitted discharge outlets from STW 701 696 695 692 689
Number of permitted discharge outlets from WTW 48 48 49 49 49
Number of non-compliant STW 4 3 3 4 5
Percentage compliance STW 99.4 99.6 99.6 99.4 99.3
Number of non-compliant WTW 1 2 1 0 0
Percentage compliance WTW 97.9 95.8 98.0 100 100

Annual discharge permit compliance (numeric) for Severn Trent Water (STW and from 2016 includes WTW), also showing EPA status and thresholds

Graph note: the EPA RAG status thresholds are shown in the graph background and in the EPA metric guide. We review and revise thresholds every 5 years.

Note that data in this section includes one site in Wales, regulated by Natural Resources Wales.

6. Delivery of the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) metric

Main facts

For the financial year ending March 2026 (cumulative progress years 1 to 5 of the WINEP):

  • 100% EPA schemes completed within planned deadlines – this is rated as green
  • 109 EPA schemes completed within planned deadlines
  • performance was better than the sector (80.2%)
  • 1 of 5 water and sewerage companies (out of 9) to be rated green
  • 708 non-EPA WINEP schemes completed out of 708 planned – 100% total WINEP delivery (EPA and non-EPA schemes)

Annual delivery of the WINEP (National Environment Programme up to the financial year ending 2020) by Severn Trent Water, with EPA rating

Data for financial years ending 2012 to 2016

Financial year ending 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Asset Management Plan (AMP) AMP5 AMP5 AMP5 AMP5 AMP6
EPA status green green green green green
Percentage of NEP complete to date (cumulative) 117 111 121 100 100
Cumulative number of schemes completed during AMP period 62 136 151 191 3

Data for financial years ending 2017 to 2021

Financial year ending 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Asset Management Plan (AMP) AMP6 AMP6 AMP6 AMP6 AMP7
EPA status green green green green amber
Percentage of NEP/WINEP complete to date (cumulative) 100 100 100 99.2 97.2
Cumulative number of schemes completed during AMP period 50 156 221 389 35

Data for financial years ending 2022 to 2026

Financial year ending 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Asset Management Plan (AMP) AMP7 AMP7 AMP7 AMP7 AMP8
EPA status green green green green green
Percentage of WINEP complete within deadlines (to date) 100 100 100 100 100
Cumulative number of schemes completed during AMP period 341 501 522 1,093 109
Cumulative number of water quality schemes completed during AMP period 295 408 428 770 39
Cumulative number of water resources schemes completed during AMP period 17 51 52 274 70
Cumulative number of fisheries, biodiversity and geomorphology schemes completed during AMP period 29 42 42 49 0

Annual delivery of the WINEP (National Environment Programme up to the financial year ending 2020) by Severn Trent Water, also showing EPA status and thresholds

Table and graph note: AMP5 schemes that were completed early before their planned year were included in the cumulative delivery percentage (in some cases resulting in percentages over 100%). AMP6 and AMP7 schemes that were completed early before their planned year are not included in the cumulative delivery percentage until their planned year (cannot report over 100%). The EPA RAG status thresholds are in the EPA metric guide. We review and revise thresholds every 5 years.

7. Sludge disposal and use metric

Main facts

For 2025:

  • 100% satisfactory sludge disposal and use – this is rated as green
  • 148,852t (tonnes dry solid) total volume dispatched
  • 29,025ha (hectares) land used by them for spreading
  • 99.59% of sludge dispatched was used by them in agriculture
  • 1 of 8 water and sewerage companies (out of 9) to report 100% satisfactory sludge disposal and use – all water and sewerage companies rated green

Annual compliance with sludge disposal and use metric by Severn Trent Water, with EPA ratings

2011 to 2015 data

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
EPA status amber amber green green green
Percentage of sludge compliant 99.4 99.9 100 100 100
Total volume of sludge dispatched (t thousands dry solid) 213.8 124.8 154.4 155.0 158.0

2016 to 2020 data

Year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
EPA status green green no data no data no data
Percentage of sludge compliant 100 100 no data no data no data
Total volume of sludge dispatched (t thousands dry solid) 152.6 140.0 134.9 119.7 147.1

2021 to 2025 data

Year 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
EPA status no data green green green green
Percentage of sludge compliant no data 100 100 100 100
Total volume of sludge dispatched (t thousands dry solid) 142.1 137.4 141.9 141.6 148.9

Table note: for the 2018 to 2021 calendar years, we suspended the metric from the EPA whilst we reviewed our regulatory regime for sludge. The EPA RAG status thresholds are in the EPA metric guide.

Annual summary of sewage sludge disposal and use (dry matter) by Severn Trent Water

Year Sewage sludge used by them in agriculture (t thousands) Sewage sludge recovered by them non-agriculture (t thousands) Sewage sludge disposed of by them or passed to other outlets (t thousands)
2021 133.5 8.7 0.0
2022 136.9 0.5 0.0
2023 139.8 2.1 0.0
2024 141.6 0.0 0.0
2025 148.2 0.6 0.0

8. Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) delivery

We have published the EDM storm overflow annual return dataset received from water and sewerage companies. This shows how often and how long the monitored storm overflows operated during 2025. The dataset also includes water and sewerage company reasons for performance issues with monitors and reasons for high spill counts.

Severn Trent Water storm overflows

Year 2025
Total number of active storm overflows listed in the annual return 2,432
Total number of active storm overflows with EDM commissioned 2,432
Percentage of active storm overflows listed with EDM commissioned 100%
Total number of storm overflows with spill data 2,431
Percentage of storm overflows listed with spill data 100%
Average number of spills per storm overflow with spill data 15.0
Average duration (hours) per monitored spill event 5.5
Percentage storm overflows with ≥90% EDM operation during reporting period 96.3%