The regulator found that South West Water has failed various legal obligations, which led to the company spilling wastewater into the environment.
This announcement represents the next stage of Ofwat’s largest and most complex set of investigations into all water companies and their management of their wastewater treatment works.
It follows the conclusion of cases against Yorkshire Water, Thames Water and Northumbrian Water earlier this year that resulted in enforcement action worth more than £160m.
Ofwat’s investigation found that South West Water failed to build and operate its wastewater treatment works and sewer networks to ensure they performed sufficiently. The company did not have adequate management systems in place to ensure it was meeting its legal obligations in this regard, including adequate oversight from its senior management team and board.
Ofwat said South West Water had acknowledged the wrongdoing and proposed a £24m enforcement package to put things right. This included investing £20m during 2025/30 to reduce spills from specific storm overflows, establishing a £2m local fund to tackle sewer misuse and misconnections and providing £2m of funding through a Nature Recovery Fund to support environmental groups in delivering local environmental improvements.
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In addition, South West Water has committed to taking the necessary steps to address the failures Ofwat has identified, securing its future compliance.
Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: “Water companies should be in no doubt that they will be held to account if they fail to meet their legal obligations to customers and the environment. Our investigation found a range of failures in how South West Water has gone about managing its wastewater business. That is why we have secured the £24m package and a commitment to put things right.
“As we continue to progress our sector-wide investigation, we are pleased that companies like South West Water are stepping up to acknowledge their failures and to put things right. We will continue to monitor the company to ensure that this work is carried out as quickly as possible so that customer confidence can begin to be restored.”
