South West Water

Ofwat is proposing payments for water companies that have outperformed and penalties for those that have underperformed. It has launched a consultation, which will run until 20th November, on the proposals to adjust the price control to be applied from April next year. All water companies have committed to improve their performance for 2015/20 based […]

South West Water has been ordered to pay more than £142,000 in fines and costs for two pollution incidents. According to the Environment Agency, poor quality effluent was discharged from two of its sewage treatment plants in Denbury, Devon and Praze an Beeble near Camborne, Cornwall. It added both sites breached the conditions of their […]

South West Water has been ordered to pay £86,000 in fines and costs for a sewage spill in Devon. According to the Environment Agency, sewage was discharged into Dawlish Water, a stream that runs through the centre of town, over a bank holiday weekend in August 2015. It states an alarm was triggered at 8.15am […]

The two companies plan to merge to provide retail water and sewerage services to the non-household sector

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved the purchase of Bournemouth Water by South West Water. Its assessment found the merger “is not likely to prejudice” regulator Ofwat’s ability to compare water companies’ performance and set price controls. Bournemouth Water provides drinking water to 440,000 homes in Dorset and part of Wiltshire and South […]

A UK water company has been ordered to pay a £214,000 fine for breaching environmental controls. According to the Environment Agency (EA), South West Water did not operate and maintain the works on its plant in accordance with good practice and minimise the risk of pollution. The company failed to stop sewage pouring into River Tamar, the […]

South West Water has been fined £28,000 for failing to respond “speedily enough” to a sewage spill in Devon. It was caused by a blockage at the Milford Park pumping station in Teignmouth in 2013. Sewage accumulated in the pumping station and the surrounding sewers until it spilled from three locations, according to the Environment […]

The merger of Bournemouth Water with South West Water has been referred for an in-depth investigation. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) refers mergers involving water companies for phase two investigation if it believes they have a UK turnover of more than £10 million. Although the Water Act 2014 will remove the mandatory referral of […]

South West Water has been ordered to pay more than £40,000 in fines and costs for polluting a watercourse in Devon. Exeter Crown Court was told a combination of plant breakdown and poor management led to the contamination of Woodbury’s Polly Brook with poor quality sewage in August 2013. This led to the death of […]

South West Water has been ordered to pay £153,600 in penalty for three offences at a sewage treatment plant in Cornwall. The facility at Luxulyan near St Austell “was not operating properly” between July 9th and July 23rd last year which resulted in poorly treated sewage discharging into the Par River, according to the Environment […]