£114,000 penalty for poor water quality

Severn Trent Water has been fined £76,000 and ordered to pay £37,990 in costs after pleading guilty to a string of water supply offences

The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) brought 16 charges against the company under the Water Industry Act 1991 and the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 over three incidents between December 2010 and September 2011.

Severn Trent was fined a total of £50,000 for 10 offences in the Chesterfield area, including six counts of supplying water unfit for human consumption to almost 470,000 customers, and one count of failing to design and continuously operate an adequate water treatment process.

The company also received a £16,000 fine for supplying water unfit for human consumption on four occasions in the Sandiacre area of Nottingham, and £10,000 for its failure to disinfect water and operate an adequate treatment process in Leicestershire and south Derbyshire.

“These charges were brought in relation to three events, two of which highlighted deficiencies in the design and operations of two treatment works, and the third was due to work on the network that resulted in the delivery of water with an unacceptable appearance and odour to consumers,” commented Jeni Colbourne, chief inspector at the DWI.

“These charges reflect a very poor period of operational performance which the company has now recognised and is taking steps to prevent a recurrence.”