Water companies have a legal obligation to make information about the environment available. We found United Utilities repeatedly failed to respond to requests for information within the legal timeframe of 20 working days and often rejected responses by claiming the information was not environmental. 

Any information that would enlighten the public about how United Utilities operates and the impact it has on the environment is, by its very nature, likely environmental – this includes data on sewage spills and the performance of its wastewater treatment works.

We found that by using such a narrow interpretation of environmental information, United Utilities ignored the bigger picture and avoided their legal obligations to even consider whether to release the information people legitimately asked for.
 

Our message to water companies is simple – we expect transparency to be your default position. It is unacceptable to keep people in the dark when they have no choice but to rely on these firms for clean water.