Following a trend of water utilities suffering large penalties, South West Water Ltd has been handed a £142,000 fine for breaching its environmental permits.
The offences were committed across two sites in Praze-an-Beeble, Cornwall, and Denbury, Devon, where the company allowed inadequately treated effluent to enter nearby watercourses.
Strict limits are set on effluent discharged from sewage treatment works to ensure they don’t adversely affect receiving watercourses. The provisions of the permit in Denbury allowed for no more than two exceedances in any 12 months. Four samples were taken in this time period and found to be breaching limits.
In Praze-an-Beeble, the amount of ammonia exceeded the allowed amount on occasions in April, May and August 2016. Furthermore, the Environment Agency also found that the site was not maintained to a suitable standard.
Mark Pilcher, of the Environment Agency, said: “Water companies must ensure effluent is treated to a sufficiently high standard to protect the environment. Regular maintenance of sewage treatment works helps with the early detection of faults and allows repairs to be made in good time before treatment deteriorates to the point where a site breaches its permit.”
South West Water was ordered to pay a total of £142,534 after pleading guilty to three charges of breaching the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010.
The water company, speaking through its spokesperson, accepted responsibility, apologised for the offences and informed the media of investments made since the incidences to improve the works and further investments to refurbish the sites.