Water companies face biggest ever fines over sewage spills
The fines cover a catalogue of errors carried out by water companies in recent years, as ITV News' reporter Sangeeta Kandola and Business Editor Joel Hills reports
Ofwat has proposed £168 million worth of fines for three of England’s biggest water companies for failing to limit river pollution, including a £104 million fine for crisis-hit Thames Water.
Ofwat said it had “uncovered a catalogue of failure” by three of England’s biggest water firms resulting in “excessive spills from storm overflows”.
Ofwat’s 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 other two companies being fined are Yorkshire Water for £47 million and Northumbrian Water for £17 million.
The fines are part of the water regulator's come from the first batch of results from its biggest ever investigation into the industry.
The penalties relate to water firms’ management of their wastewater treatment and sewer systems, which have come under heavy criticism for releasing too much pollution into rivers.
The fines are currently only a proposal with the companies having until early September to appeal them before Ofwat makes a final decision on whether to impose them.
In an announcement on Tuesday morning, Ofwat said the firms "failed to ensure that discharges of untreated wastewater from storm overflows occur only in exceptional circumstances, which has resulted in harm to the environment and their customers."
It added that there was a "strong correlation" between high spill levels and operational issues at their wastewater treatment sites, "which points to these companies not having properly operated and maintained their wastewater treatment works."
It said the firms had failed to upgrade their assets where necessary, and had been slow to grasp their obligations to limit pollution from storm overflows.
Ofwat said that more than two-thirds of Thames Water’s wastewater treatment works with Flow to Full Treatment (FFT) permits had capacity and operational issues, while one-in-six of its storm overflows were found to be in breach of regulations.
Yorkshire Water’s wastewater treatment works were in better shape, with just 16% of them having operational issues. But 45% of its storm overflows were in breach.
And 3% of Northumbrian Water’s wastewater works had issues, while 9% of its storm overflows were in breach.
Black said the stress of the fines would fall on the three water firms investors not the customers.
Speaking to Sky News he said: "We set the rules on what charges they can recover from customers, so we make absolutely no provision for fines in the levels of bills that is set for customers."
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He also acknowledged the perilous state of Thames Water which is struggling with billions of debt but said it was not a "not a relevant consideration" when considering imposing fines.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed welcomed the fines.
"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," he said.
Charles Watson, chairman of the campaign group River Action, said: “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 also criticised water companies for paying out billions in shareholder dividends in recent years.
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