'Reckless' South West Water fined £7.8 million
South West Water was fined £7,867,733 for reckless environmental failures, including illegal sewage discharges across Devon and Cornwall between 2015 and 2021, the largest fine of its kind in the region.
South West Water (SWW) was fined £7,867,733 at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on 29 September after a court ruled its conduct amounted to reckless failures in managing environmental risks. District Judge Matson stated that pollution incidents would not be tolerated and highlighted systemic management failures during sentencing. The company pleaded guilty to 18 charges, including 17 for illegal water discharges and one for failing to take reasonable remedial action at a pumping station.
The offences spanned six years across multiple sites in Devon and Cornwall, including Bodmin, Harlyn, Playing Place, Polperro, and Plymouth. Hundreds of sewage spills occurred at popular bathing spots and sensitive habitats, with 231 discharges recorded at Harlyn Beach alone between January 2016 and July 2021. At Bodmin’s sewage works, 336 illegal spills were documented over seven years, with the judge describing the oversight as 'incredibly concerning'.
A single incident at Polperro Harbour on 24 August 2019 saw untreated sewage gush through the harbour wall during a bank holiday weekend, resulting in a £1.1 million fine for SWW. Despite alarms sounding, the company took 10 hours to respond. The judge also cited SWW’s failure to address a precarious sewer pipe in Plymouth’s Budshead Creek, which collapsed in 2020, causing two pollution incidents despite repeated warnings from the Environment Agency.
SWW was ordered to pay £329,993 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge, with 56 days to settle all penalties. The company had previously been prosecuted in 2023 for 13 charges, receiving a £2.15 million fine. SWW faces further sentencing for six additional charges related to spills at Holywell Sewage Pumping Station, with a hearing date pending.