The Manchester Ship Canal Company (MSCC) has won a court battle to sue United Utilities over sewage spills polluting the water. It follows a long-running dispute between the two firms which began in 2010. The MSCC was initially blocked from taking legal action against United Utilities over sewage spills, but it managed to overturn the decision on appeal at the Supreme Court which has been announced.
The Supreme Court ruled that "the owner of a canal or other watercourse has a property right in the watercourse, including a right to preserve the quality of the water. That right is protected by the common law. "The discharge of polluting effluent into a privately-owned watercourse is an actionable nuisance at common law if the pollution interferes with the owner’s use or enjoyment of its property.
" The ruling could pave the way for others to take action against water firms who release untreated sewage into waterways. Recent data has found that rivers in Greater Manchester are some of the worst impacted in England for sewage spills. The Croal and Irwell had sewage discharged into them nearly 12,000 times in 2023, which works out at 95 spills per mile of water, according to Environment Agency figures analysed by The Guardian.
It led to criticism from Greater Manchester MPs and councillors over the scale of the problem around the region. Around 2.6 billion litres of treated and clean water flows into the Manchester Ship Canal from United Utilities’ Davyhulme wastewater treatmen.
