Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water face £168m fine for failing to manage sewage pollution

The water regulator said that Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water could face the penalty after they were found to have failed to manage their wastewater treatment works. Among the combined fine includes a £104m penalty for Thames Water alone, with a £47m fine for Yorkshire Water and a £17m penalty for Northumbrian Water.

Ofwat said that investigators from the watchdog has “uncovered a catalogue of failure” by the three companies, which have resulted in “excessive spills from storm overflows”. It comes as water companies come under fire for sewage pollution in England’s waterways, with Ofwat stating that there had been insufficient upgrades to assets where necessary and as a result, companies had been slow to grasp their obligations to limit sewage pollution from storm overflows.

Chief executive David Black said: “Our investigation has shown how they routinely released sewage into our rivers and seas, rather than ensuring that this only happens in exceptional circumstances as the law intends. The level of penalties we intend to impose signals both the severity of the failings and our determination to take action to ensure water companies do more to deliver cleaner rivers and seas.

“These companies need to move at pace to put things right and meet their obligations to protect customers and the environment. They also need to transform how they look after the environment and to focus on doing better in the future. Looking to the future, we want transform companies’ performance under our new price control that starts in April next year, so we reduce spills from sewage overflows by 44% by 2030 compared to 2021 levels.”

The move by Ofwat to propose the fines has been welcomed by Environment Secretary Steve Reed. He said: “The unacceptable destruction of our waterways should never have been allowed – and it is right that those responsible for illegally polluting our rivers, lakes and seas face the consequences.

“This Government will fundamentally reform the water sector. We have announced our first steps to clean up the water industry in our Water (Special Measures) Bill, to cut sewage pollution, protect customers and attract investment to upgrade its crumbling infrastructure. We will outline further legislation to transform and reset our water industry and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.”

Charles Watson, chair and founder of campaign group River Action, said in response to the news: “Last year sewage was discharged across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales more than 596,666 times. That’s over 1,600 times a day – and with many of these discharges being illegal, this situation is completely unacceptable. Thankfully the water regulator, for so long toothless, is finally waking up to the scale of the public’s outrage and we are starting to see some meaningful penalties being imposed upon the worst offenders.”

He added: “However, remember that the water industry was able to find more than £11 billion to hand out to their shareholders in dividends last year, which gives context to these fines. Until the ability of these polluting companies to hand out so much cash is severely curtailed, pollution will continue to be a highly profitable activity with inadequate incentives for the water companies to fix their creaking infrastructure and stop filling our rivers with raw sewage.”

Charles Watson, chair and founder of campaign group River Action, said in response to the news: “Last year sewage was discharged across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales more than 596,666 times. That’s over 1,600 times a day – and with many of these discharges being illegal, this situation is completely unacceptable. Thankfully the water regulator, for so long toothless, is finally waking up to the scale of the public’s outrage and we are starting to see some meaningful penalties being imposed upon the worst offenders.”

He added: “However, remember that the water industry was able to find more than £11 billion to hand out to their shareholders in dividends last year, which gives context to these fines. Until the ability of these polluting companies to hand out so much cash is severely curtailed, pollution will continue to be a highly profitable activity with inadequate incentives for the water companies to fix their creaking infrastructure and stop filling our rivers with raw sewage.”