A Suffolk water quality campaigner and a local MP have spoken of their "disappointment and concern" that water firm Anglian Water has been told to refund customers due to poor performance.
Water industry regulator Ofwat has ordered Anglian Water to return £38.1 million after being reported as lagging behind in standards.
The ranking follows Ofwat's assessment of the performance of 17 water and wastewater companies in England and Wales against key targets for issues such as sewer flooding, supply interruptions and water leaks.
READ MORE: Anglian Water's failure to improve attacked by Suffolk MPs
In 2023, there were 40 pollution incidents from Anglian Water sewerage assets per 10,000km. (307 actual incidents). And there were 11 serious incidents from sewerage assets.
A report from government department the Environment Agency gave the company a two star rating for its 2023 performance and said there had been no improvement to its river quality work in 2023.
The situation has sparked concern from Ruth Leach, co-founder of Save the Deben, a campaign group seeking to raise awareness about water quality in the river Deben amid concerns about sewage releases and other forms of pollution in the river.
In April 2023, the group successfully secured designated bathing water status for a section of the river at Waldringfield from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The status signifies that the water is safe for swimming and means that the water is tested for pollution by the Environment Agency.
READ MORE: Anglian Water keeps its two-star Environment Agency rating
"Good progress has been made by working with the water company to achieve the protection and obligatory changes that bathing water status offers but clearly, it’s not enough.
"The outdated inadequate sewage system has not been adequately addressed and untreated sewage still empties into our rivers when it rains heavily and capacity is breached.
READ MORE: Anglian Water set to invest £50m to stop sewage spills
"We are frustrated because a completely new approach to waste water recycling is required with the goal of zero untreated sewage draining into our rivers.
"These repayments will translate into a minimal reduction in the household water bills and is still not addressing the issue adequately.
"Infrastructure improvements such as UV filtration units, while expensive, are the obvious necessary step to move this forward from a pollution point of view and we call on the new CEO of Anglian Water to be an innovator in this area.
READ MORE: Anglian Water issues warning to Suffolk households
"Otherwise, special measures should be considered. These repayments are the equivalent of a sticking plaster on a haemorrhaging circulatory system while the surgeon looks the other way.”
Her comments were echoed by Suffolk Coastal MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter.
She said: "It is concerning that Anglian Water has been reported as 'lagging behind' by the regulator.
"Though the regulator’s report noted that Anglian Water was performing well in some areas, including customer satisfaction, more must be done to tackle leaks and pollution incidents head on, as highlighted by Ofwat.
READ MORE: Anglian Water's failure to improve attacked by Suffolk MPs
"It is particularly concerning that Anglian Water’s pollution incidents have increased over the past year.
"Tackling this is an urgent priority – for both me and Anglian Water’s customers – who understand the impact that this can have on our natural environment."
An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “We know that our performance needs to improve and with the arrival of our new CEO this summer, we are focused on a dedicated programme to accelerate results.
"We now need to secure the necessary investment from Ofwat to deliver the right outcomes for customers and the environment.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here