South West Water fined £7.87m over historic sewage pollution

South West Water has been fined £7,867,733 for pollution offences involving sewage discharges and failures at sites in Cornwall and Devon between 2015 and 2021. The company pleaded guilty at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court following an investigation by the Environment Agency. The 18 charges included 17 illegal discharge offences and one charge relating to a failure to take reasonable remedial measures after a sewage pumping-station failure.

The incidents occurred in Bodmin, Harlyn, Playing Place and Polperro in Cornwall, and in Plymouth. Judge Jo Matson described the pollution as “horrendous” and “very significant”. She said hundreds of sewage spills had reached beaches, waterways and the sea, and that untreated sewage had flowed through the harbour wall into Polperro harbour during a bank holiday weekend.

The judge said pollution by water companies would not be tolerated and should be taken seriously by the courts. She also noted that the offences predated an earlier sentence against the company and that South West Water had made changes since then. South West Water apologised for what happened and said the case concerned historic matters.

It said most of the spills involved the use of overflows during storm conditions. The company said it was investing £760 million to address storm overflows. It reported a 17 per cent reduction in spills over the previous year and a 25 per cent fall in spill duration, while saying improvements had been made at the affected sites.

South West Water said it remained focused on investment intended to produce cleaner rivers and seas across the South West by 2040. The judge said only time would show whether the company’s changes were successful. The company was also fined more than £2.1 million in 2023 after admitting responsibility for pollution in the region.