Anglian Water has become the latest water company to face enforcement action after failing to deal with sewage leaks, resulting in ‘excessive’ spills.
Water regulator Ofwat said on Tuesday Anglian Water has proposed a £62.8million penalty and remedial action following an investigation.
The watchdog said the east of England water company, which serves nearly seven million customers, had ‘breached its legal obligations’ in operating its wastewater treatment network.
The water industry has come under fire for discharging sewage into rivers and seas, with outflows at record levels.
Yorkshire Water, South West Water, Thames Water and Northumbrian Water are among the firms that have faced similar enforcement action so far in 2025, collectively facing penalities over £160million.
At the same time, domestic bills have increased by an average £10 a month as the sector embarks on a multi-billion pound infrastructure upgrade package.
Anglian Water is handed a £63m fine from the water regulator Ofwat over sewage spills
Anglian Water said in a statement the proposed redress package will be ‘entirely funded’ by shareholders, rather than customers.
Ofwat’s investigation into Anglian Water found it had failed to operate, maintain and upgrade its wastewater assets to ensure they could ‘cope with the flows of sewage and wastewater coming to them’.
As part of the package of measures, Ofwat said £5.8million of the penalty would go towards a community fund to support environmental and social projects.
‘Our investigation has found failures in how Anglian Water has operated and maintained its sewage works and networks, which has resulted in excessive spills from storm overflows,’ Lynn Parker, Ofwat’s senior director of enforcement said.
‘This is a serious breach and is unacceptable.’
Anglian Water said it planned to accelerate investment to reduce spills at high-risk sites and implement a longer term plan to ensure spills from storm overflows are minimised.
Mark Thurston, chief executive of Anglian Water said: ‘We understand the need to rebuild trust with customers and that aspects of our performance need to improve to do that.
‘Reducing pollutions and spills is our number one operational focus, and we have both the investment and the partners in place to deliver on those promises as part of our £11billion business plan over the next five years.’
The independent Water Commission, led by Sir John Cunliffe, was set up in response to outrage over sewage spills and rising bills.
The review, published last week, concluded that Ofwat would need to be scrapped in favour of a new regulator.
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