The Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) is raising funds to intervene in a crucial UK Supreme Court case that could affect whether water companies can be held legally accountable for sewage pollution.  

The case — UKSC/2025/0105: Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs & United Utilities — could have major consequences for the protection of rivers and waterways across the UK. 

ELF intervened in the previous Supreme Court case between these parties in 2023. In July 2024, the Court delivered a landmark judgment confirming that illegal sewage discharges by water companies can be challenged through common law claims for nuisance or trespass. 

This was a historic decision after 14 years of litigation, and it offered communities and landowners a powerful new way to challenge sewage pollution. 

Why ELF’s intervention mattered 

An intervention allows an independent organisation like ELF to provide evidence and expertise to the Court on the wider public interest issues in a case. By intervening, ELF helped the Court understand the wider real-world impacts of sewage pollution on communities across the UK. The original case centred on a dispute between a canal company and a water utility, but the implications went far beyond that single canal. 

ELF brought the public interest perspective to the Court — drawing on our work with communities across the UK affected by sewage pollution. 

We highlighted how widespread sewage discharges affect people, wildlife, rivers, and local environments, helping the Court understand the wider consequences of its decision. 

For communities struggling with polluted rivers, the ruling offered long-awaited leverage against water companies whose discharges have too often gone unchallenged. 

Why this new case is so important 

ELF has now been asked to intervene again in a new Supreme Court case involving Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd (MSCC) and United Utilities (UU). 

At the heart of the case is a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) approved by the previous Government and upheld by the Court of Appeal. A CPO allows public bodies, such as utility companies, to acquire land or rights needed to carry out their duties. 

In this case, the CPO gives United Utilities the right to discharge wastewater into the Manchester Ship Canal from its treatment works at Eccles. 

The Canal’s owner, MSCC, argued that this new right should come with the same legal safeguards that apply to older discharge points — protections designed to limit pollution and ensure accountability.Without these safeguards, United Utilities could discharge wastewater into the canal even if those discharges breach environmental permit conditions or damage water quality — without facing claims in nuisance or trespass. 

If the Court of Appeal decision is upheld, it could create a dangerous precedent. 

Water companies could effectively gain immunity from legal challenges for sewage pollution wherever similar compulsory discharge rights are granted. 

Why ELF must intervene again 

Our intervention will help ensure the Court understands the real-world impacts of sewage pollution on communities, ecosystems, and the health of our rivers. 

Without that perspective, the wider consequences of this decision may not be fully heard. 

Why we need your support 

Intervening in the Supreme Court requires specialist legal preparation and expert input. Your support will help fund the research, time and legal support needed for ELF to intervene and ensure that the public interest is properly represented in this vital case. 

Protect accountability for sewage pollution 

The outcome of this case could shape how sewage pollution can be challenged for years to come. 

If communities lose the ability to bring nuisance claims, one of the most important tools for holding water companies to account could be weakened. 

Please support ELF’s intervention and help ensure that our rivers — and the communities who depend on them — are not left without protection. 

Donate today to help defend our rivers in the Supreme Court.