Environment Act 21: Delivering Section 82 - strategic and technical priorities

A new era of continuous water quality monitoring is underway, with innovation and collaboration key to meeting ambitious UK targets, writes Darren Hanson, director, environmental solutions, Xylem UK, ahead of the Water, Wastewater and Environmental Expo, September 17-18 2025, Birmingham NEC.

With Section 82 of the Environment Act 2021 now in active rollout, the UK water sector is entering a pivotal phase. The legislation calls for continuous water quality monitoring upstream and downstream of storm overflows and treatment works.

By 2030, at least 25 percent of applicable assets must be fitted with continuous monitoring - prioritising high-risk sites like chalk streams, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and bathing waters. All applicable assets must be monitored by 2035.

Progress is well underway at high-priority locations, with companies embracing innovation and collaboration being ahead of the curve. For those still scaling up, now is the time to look further ahead to the key 2035 deadline and focus on:

• Scaling up: expand monitoring to cover all relevant assets
• Leveraging hydrological modelling: conduct mixing zone assessments to ensure sensor placement reflects actual water quality impacts
• Securing land access: maintain dialogue with private landowners and secure planning permissions for sensor installations
• Establishing data governance: strengthen validation, quality assurance and integration with broader asset management systems
• Ecology assessments: vital to minimise impact on the local ecosystem
• Stakeholder engagement: as per land access and ecology, this is agnostic of the technological solution and a key enabler to ensure efficient delivery

Meeting requirements of S82 is a major undertaking for the sector. Xylem has been supporting planning since the act became law in November 2021 and lessons are already being learned:

• Start early: pilot projects and phased rollouts allow for iterative learning and smoother scaling
• Hydrology is key: understanding river dynamics is essential for accurate and meaningful data
• Tech must be tough: equipment should be built to withstand vandalism, flooding and remote conditions
• Prepare for high-frequency data: managing data at this scale requires specialist skills, systems and governance frameworks
• Consider management of sonde metadata: this will ensure reliable and traceable calibrations post-handover

In terms of technologies, several have emerged as particularly effective for S82 requirements:

• Multiparameter sondes for robust, real-time data across multiple parameters
• Cloud platforms to centralise data, enable alerts and support analytics
• Data-as-a-service (DaaS) for outsourced monitoring and data delivery
• IoT and telemetry to enable remote monitoring, diagnostics and maintenance

Systems integration should be considered to ensure effective operationalisation of the data. 

Value of data

Data collected under Section 82 should not be viewed as a compliance burden but as a valuable strategic asset. Properly analysed, it can help water companies understand catchment dynamics, identify pollution hotspots and trends, enable predictive maintenance, prevent failures and inform strategies.

Sharing the data in real time will also improve transparency and help build customer trust. Encouragingly, we are also seeing this data trigger more collaborative discussions with other catchment stakeholders, such as the agriculture sector.

Power in collaboration

Strategic delivery models are emerging as a powerful approach. A standout example is between M Group, Jacobs and Xylem. Together, they deliver end-to-end monitoring solutions aligned with S82’s technical demands.

Xylem provides the core monitoring technology, enabling real-time data collection and analysis. M Group Services brings expertise in infrastructure deployment, including sensor installation and maintenance across complex and remote environments. Jacobs leads on land access negotiation, hydrological modelling, data interpretation and strategic planning, ensuring monitoring networks are scientifically robust and aligned with regulatory expectations.  The model demonstrates how collaboration can drive better environmental outcomes.

Section 82 represents more than a regulatory milestone - it signals a shift toward intelligent, continuous and traceable water quality management.  As the sector works toward full compliance by 2035, collaboration will remain the cornerstone of success enabling smarter solutions, faster adoption and a more resilient, water-secure future for all

Darren and Xylem UK colleagues will be showcasing water quality monitoring technology at WWEM, stand WW-P24.

James Chapman and Kevin Reardon will deliver a presentation about the Section 82 challenges and solutions and the consortium’s capabilities. Catch ‘Section 82 Monitoring: Delivering Certainty in an Uncertain World’ on day two, at 11 am.