Southern Water fined over £7million for dumping illegal sewage

SOUTHERN Water has been fined more than £7million for dumping illegal sewage. The major water firm was slapped with the fine at Canterbury Crown Court (CCC) today, Friday July 17 after dumping sewage illegally off the Kent coast between 2019 and 2021. The company, which serves millions of customers, was said to have caused harm from “a pattern of repeated incidents over several years”. Southern Water pleaded guilty to 13 offences at Medway Magistrates’ Court last April over sewage discharges at Margate and Broadstairs wastewater pumping stations between 2019 and 2021. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! Nine counts related to the incidents of untreated sewage dumped off the Kent coast while three counts were over failure to notify authorities of the discharges as soon as practicable and within 24 hours of a warning which is a condition of its environmental permit. A final conviction was for failing to have a standby pump at Margate’s station between July 27 2019 and October 4 2020 in breach of its permit. The sentencing at Canterbury Crown Court took place across Thursday and Friday, with Mr Justice Johnson imposing a total fine of £7,127,083. The company was fined £90million for nearly 7,000 incidents across Hampshire, Kent and Sussex in a case brought by the Environment Agency in 2021. A Southern Water spokesperson said today the firm was “deeply sorry” for the incidents in North Kent. “Pollution incidents like these are unacceptable, and we fully recognise the impact they can have on the environment and the communities we serve. Most read in Money “These events took place more than 5 years ago — since then we’ve made significant changes. Under a new leadership team, backed by new shareholders, we’ve radically addressed our culture, governance and operations,” they added. It comes amid ongoing public anger about the amount of sewage being released into waterways, exacerbated by firms increasing bills to pay for upgrades after decades of under investment. Earlier this week, South East Water was ordered to pay £30.5million for multiple customer service failures and supply issues. Last year, Thames Water was hit with a £122.7million fine the largest ever for a water company. It had to fork out £104.5million for sewage spills, plus £18.2million for breaking the rules over dividend payments. Ofwat has allowed water firms to put up bills by 36% between 2025 and 2030. Southern Water has steadily increased costs for customers, with bills rising by an average of 8% in April. 2 comments2