Water (Special Measures) Act 2025

4 Emergency overflows

(1) The Water Industry Act 1991 is amended as follows.

(2) In Part 4 (sewerage services), after Chapter 4 (storm overflows) insert—

“Chapter 5 Emergency overflows

141F Reporting on discharge from emergency overflows

(1) Where there is a discharge from an emergency overflow of a sewerage undertaker, the undertaker must publish the following information—

(a) that there has been a discharge from the emergency overflow;

(b) the location of the emergency overflow;

(c) when the discharge began;

(d) when the discharge ended.

(2) The information referred to in subsection (1)(a) to (c) must be published within an hour of the discharge beginning; and that referred to in subsection (1)(d) within an hour of it ending.

(3) The information must—

(a) be in a form which allows the public readily to understand it, and

(b) be published in a way which makes it readily accessible to the public.

(4) The duty of a sewerage undertaker under this section is enforceable under section 18 by—

(a) the Minister, or

(b) the Authority, with the consent of or in accordance with a general authorisation given by the Minister.

(5) The Minister may by regulations made by statutory instrument make provision for exceptions from the duty under this section (for example, by reference to descriptions of emergency overflows, frequency of discharge or the level of risk to water quality).

(6) Before making regulations under this section the Minister must consult such persons as the Minister considers appropriate.

(7) The Minister may not make regulations under this section unless a draft of the statutory instrument containing the regulations has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, the appropriate legislature.

(8) In this section—

• “appropriate legislature” means—

  (a)

  in the case of regulations made by the Secretary of State, both Houses of Parliament;

  (b)

  in the case of regulations made by the Welsh Ministers, Senedd Cymru;

• “the Minister” means—

  (a)

  the Secretary of State, in relation to sewerage undertakers whose areas are wholly or mainly in England, and

  (b)

  the Welsh Ministers, in relation to sewerage undertakers whose areas are wholly or mainly in Wales.

(9) Section 213(2) to (2B) applies to regulations made by the Welsh Ministers under this section as it applies to regulations made by the Secretary of State.

141G Section 141F: meaning of “emergency overflow”

(1) In section 141F, references to an emergency overflow of a sewerage undertaker are to any structure or apparatus (an “overflow”) which—

(a) is comprised in the sewerage system of the undertaker,

(b) discharges content from the system into inland waters, underground strata or the sea, and

(c) meets the condition in subsection (2) or (3).

(2) The condition in this subsection is that the overflow discharges content as result of an emergency event of the following descriptions—

(a) electrical power failure at sewage disposal works;

(b) mechanical breakdown at sewage disposal works;

(c) rising main failure;

(d) blockage of a sewer downstream of sewerage disposal works.

(3) The condition in this subsection is that an environmental permit authorises the use of the overflow and—

(a) the overflow is identified as an emergency overflow in the permit in accordance with its conditions as they had effect immediately before the day on which this section comes into force, or

(b) the overflow is authorised under the permit to be used in such emergency events (whether or not of a kind mentioned in subsection (2)(a) to (d)) as are specified or described in the permit in accordance with such conditions.

(4) In this section—

• “environmental permit” means a permit granted before the coming into force of this section under Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016;

• “sewerage system”, in relation to a sewerage undertaker, has the same meaning as in Chapter 1A of Part 2 (see section 17BA(7)).”

(3) In section 213 (power to make regulations), in subsection (1) for “or 141DB” substitute “, 141DB or 141F”.