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South West Water has become the sixth wastewater company that Ofwat has opened an enforcement case against as part of its ongoing investigation into wastewater treatment works.
The regulator announced the probe in November and in March began enforcement cases against Anglian, Northumbrian, Thames, Wessex and Yorkshire, although all wastewater companies remain subject to investigation.
Ofwat has issued a formal notice to South West to gather information for enforcement purposes due to “ongoing concerns and the latest performance data” provided to the Environment Agency.
Chief executive David Black, said: “We have now opened enforcement cases against the majority of wastewater companies in England and Wales. From what we have seen so far, the scale of the issue here is shocking – companies must resolve any problems at wastewater treatment works and do so quickly. Where they have breached their obligations, we will not hesitate to act.”
The regulator said it expects companies to quickly address non-compliance and strengthen how environmental obligations are managed.
The six formal notices issued so far by the regulator were to “ask and understand more about those concerns and, where things have gone wrong, to seek further assurances that things are being put right as quickly as possible”.
Ofwat said it is worried about the quality and completeness of the information companies have about the performance of treatment works as well as what they do with that information to ensure the facilities are adequate, operating correctly and not causing environmental harm such as through discharges from combined sewer overflows (CSOs).
A South West Water spokesperson said: “We are taking Ofwat’s decision very seriously. We will provide any further information required as part of its review into South West Water. It is important that Ofwat and the public can have ongoing confidence in our commitment to the environment. Earlier this year we conducted a line-by-line review of our plans and announced our largest environmental programme in 15 years.
“This will reduce our use of storm overflows, maintain our region’s excellent bathing water quality standards all year round and reduce and then remove our impact on river water quality by 2030. We will continue to work openly and transparently with Ofwat as part of their industry wide activity.”
Hafren Dyfrdwy, Severn Trent, Southern Water, United Utilities and Welsh Water have not had enforcement cases opened against them. The Environment Agency separately is carrying out a criminal investigation into companies’ compliance with environmental permits.
Ongoing investigation
Ofwat said its ongoing investigation has found some companies are not fully utilising data from flow to full treatment (FFT) at sewage works. It said some companies may not be properly assessing whether sites are compliant with FTT requirements and expressed concerns that some may lack the operational data to do so. It said some may not be prioritising actions or investigations to rectify non-compliance.
Furthermore, the regulator said some company boards and executive teams are not routinely receiving information on environmental permit compliance beyond the requirements of the EA’s annual Environmental Performance Assessment scorecard (EPA), although some have now implemented advanced data analytics to better identify potential non-compliance. Some have also added monitoring and reporting of FFT compliance to routine operations and accelerated the installation of monitoring equipment.
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