Ofwat’s investigation has appeared into whether or not the three firms have been offering prospects with the extent of service they’re entitled to underneath the regulation.
It has discovered the three firms didn’t adequately spend money on and preserve their networks, resulting in repeated releases of uncooked sewage into the nation’s waterways.
On Tuesday it proposed fines of £47m for Yorkshire Water and £17m for Northumbrian Water. For Thames Water it’s proposing the most important advantageous on report of £104m.
The regulator’s chief government, David Black, mentioned: “Ofwat has uncovered a list of failure by Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water in how they ran their sewage works and this resulted in extreme spills.”
This announcement follows a BBC investigation earlier this yr that exposed sewage had probably been launched illegally 6,000 instances in 2022 by England’s water firms in breach of their permits.
Releasing uncooked sewage has the potential to considerably harm the setting and poses a threat to human well being for these swimming in a river or sea the place sewage is being discharged.
Ofwat can advantageous firms as much as 10% of their annual gross sales. Within the case of Thames Water, the proposed advantageous is 9% of gross sales, which Mr Black advised the BBC “displays the severity of the offences”.
The regulator discovered that greater than two-thirds of Thames Water’s wastewater remedy works had operational points, and that almost all of Yorkshire Water’s wastewater remedy works had recurrently spilled sewage into the setting since 2018 pointing to a “systematic situation”.
A Thames Water spokesperson mentioned: “We take this matter very critically and have cooperated at each stage of Ofwat’s investigation. We regard all untreated discharges as unacceptable, even when they’re permitted.”
Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water mentioned they have been disillusioned by Ofwat’s determination.
Ofwat continues its investigations into an extra eight water and wastewater firms in England and Wales for related points, with additional updates anticipated within the coming yr.
“For too lengthy, failure to spend money on our important water infrastructure has been unchecked,” mentioned Tessa Wardley, director of advocacy at environmental charity Rivers Belief.
“It appears extremely seemingly that there’s extra to return when investigations into the opposite eight water firms is concluded.”
