A wide-ranging inquiry by the UK's Environmental Audit Committee finds that PFAS regulation is falling dangerously behind international standards. Published on 23 April 2026, Addressing the risks from Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) covers the full lifecycle of forever chemicals — from source restriction to remediation and destruction. For the water sector, the implications are significant.
A slow regulatory response with real water consequences
The committee's report scrutinises the UK Government's first-ever PFAS Plan, published in February 2026, and finds it long on monitoring commitments but short on decisive action. Central to this is the performance of UK REACH, the domestic chemicals regulatory framework established after the UK's exit from the EU. From the point of departure to the current Government taking office, the EU added 42 substances to its candidate list and five to its authorisation list; the UK added zero to either. The committee warns this divergence risks EU-restricted PFAS products being redirected to the UK market, increasing contamination loads that eventually reach water sources. Reform of UK REACH is recommended by March 2027, with assessment timescales cut to half the current statutory maximums.
For water specifically, the Drinking Water Inspectorate's March 2025 guidance — requiring companies in England and Wales to monitor 48 PFAS at a standard of 100 nanograms per litre — is welcomed, as is the Government's commitment to make it statutory. But witnesses highlighted a deeper incoherence. Dr David Megson, Reader in Chemistry and Environmental Forensics at Manchester Metropolitan University, noted: "we go to water and we are looking for 48 PFAS. I go to food and I am looking for four PFAS." The committee recommends consistent risk assessment standards across all exposure pathways.
The cost of contamination — and who pays
The Environment Agency estimates remediation costs for between 2,900 and 10,200 high-risk sites in England at between £31 billion and £121 billion. As PFAS leach from these sites into groundwater and surface water, the burden on water utilities and catchment managers will grow accordingly. A further pressure on water quality comes from sewage sludge applied to farmland as fertiliser, which can carry PFAS from household and industrial sources directly into soils and water catchments. The committee finds these costs are currently falling disproportionately on the public. Water companies pass PFAS removal costs to bill-payers; local authorities are left to fund clean-up when liable businesses have closed. The Government points to an £80 million general contaminated land fund available to local authorities — modest against the scale of the problem, and not specific to PFAS.
David Henderson, CEO of Water UK, was direct in his evidence: "should not be borne by taxpayers; it should not be borne by water bill payers; it should be borne by those who have made a fortune out of making this stuff." The committee recommends the Government consult by March 2027 on establishing a national PFAS Remediation Fund, including an emissions levy for PFAS on the UK REACH candidate list and increased central funding for local authorities where no responsible party can be identified.
Wastewater treatment and surface water monitoring — operational gaps for utilities
Despite progress on drinking water standards, the report identifies significant gaps further along the water cycle. Current wastewater treatment technology cannot eliminate PFAS entirely from wastewater treatment works discharges, meaning these compounds continue to enter receiving water bodies, sediments and sludge. Monitoring of surface water discharges from industrial sites also remains inadequate, with no consistent requirements in place.
According to Liz Parkes MBE, Deputy Director for Climate Change, Chemicals & Markets at the Environment Agency, there is currently only one statutory environmental quality standard for PFAS in water and one for biota — limiting the agency's ability to enforce limits, require remediation or assess compliance. The committee recommends the Government provide full detail on how its PFAS monitoring strategy will support enforcement, and assess and commit to funding the EA's resource requirements in its formal response to the report.
With the EU expected to complete its comprehensive PFAS restriction assessment by end of 2026, the committee urges the UK Government to draw on that work within three months of publication. As the report concludes, the longer action is delayed, the greater the health, economic and environmental burdens will become.
