Ofwat is set to probe all 11 water firms in England and Wales as part of an investigation into sewage spills. It will be looking into whether their sewage treatment works are polluting the environment. Ofwat initially opened this investigation in November 2021 and has handed out around £300 million in fines to those who were found to have breached their legal obligations.
It has recently announced formal enforcement notices have been served on Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Hafren Dyfrdwy, Severn Trent and United Utilities. Today, we've published our draft decisions on water companies' plans for 2025-2030. We're proposing an £88bn spending package to reduce pollution, improve customer service, enhance water quality, and deliver greater resilience to climate change.
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com/JGB0xaUYY1 — Ofwat (@Ofwat) July 11, 2024 The regulator has already taken out enforcement cases against Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South West Water, Thames Water, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water, with extensive investigations ongoing. Therefore, this means Ofwat has enforcement cases with all 11 of England and Wales' water firms. What this means is that the water regulator has gathered evidence and found the firms may have breached their obligations to protect the environment, which could lead to fines.
Ofwat 'concerned' about sector’s environmental performance Alongside all of this, Ofwat is also still monitoring Southern Water following a previous enforcem.
