Reducing pollution

Better Rivers, Better North WestThe North West contains a diverse mix of densely populated, built-up urban areas as well as many rural areas of outstanding natural beauty. Whilst each requires different environmental considerations, we will continue to protect and enhance the environment to create a region more resilient to impacts like climate change, improving it for future generations. Find out more about our approach to better rivers here.

With challenges such as population growth and climate change facing the sector, we remain proud of our track record, achieving a 3 or 4 star rating in the Environmental Performance Assessment from the Environment Agency in five of the last seven years.

Pollution Incidents

The Environment Agency manage and regulate environmental issues and incidents, and determine the classification of pollution incidents. You can find a definition of these at Common Incident Classification Scheme (CICS). United Utilities has sought to minimise pollution from its assets and operations, reducing the number of incidents by over 50% in the last decade and achieving zero serious pollution incidents, which are the most harmful, in three of the last four years.

You can understand more about how we approach incidents, our focus on removing environmentally impacting pollution events and track our progress through our Pollution Incident Reduction Plans linked below.

Pollution Incident Reduction Plan 2023

Pollution Incident Reduction Plan 2020