Severn Trent is to bring forward plans to clean up rivers after the Government launched an inquiry into whether sewage works are breaking environmental rules.
The firm said it would meet obligations to improve rivers under the Environment Act within nine years, rather than the previous quarter-century timeframe.
The company said: ‘Rivers are key to our supply chain and, although we don’t own our region’s rivers, we take our role in protecting and caring for them seriously.’
Severn Trent, led by chief executive Liv Garfield (pictured), said it would meet obligations to improve rivers under the Environment Act within nine years
It added that it welcomes working with regulators following the announcement of an Ofwat and Environment Agency investigation into sewage treatment plants.
The regulators said firms may face unlimited fines if they are prosecuted for breaches of their environmental obligations.
The probe into more than 2,000 sewage works was launched after monitoring revealed many may not follow the rules on how much waste water is treated before it can overflow into nature.
Severn Trent also revealed a 13.8 per cent hike in pre-tax profit in the six months to the end of September. It made £256million on revenue of £958million, up 8 per cent.
Chief executive Liv Garfield said: ‘We’ve made another strong start to the year as we focus on delivering for stakeholders across our region and delivering for customers in the areas that matter most to them.’
