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Southern Water has been fined £65,000 and ordered to pay £44,620 of additional costs for a water quality incident in an area of the Isle of Wight in 2013.
The company received the fine at a sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Friday (10 August).
On 27 July 2018, Southern Water pleaded guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption from Cooks Castle Shanklin water supply reservoir between 31 January and 12 February 2013.
The charges were brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which described the water as discoloured and “highly turbid”.
Southern Water pleaded guilty to one charge of supplying water unfit for human consumption and accepted that it did so between 6 February and 9 February 2013.
At the time of the offence, the treated water reservoir supplied approximately 17,743 consumers.
The site was known to be “vulnerable to subsidence” and the event occurred because of exploratory investigations into ground conditions around the reservoir involving on-site drilling, the DWI said.
The outlet main was ruptured by the drilling rig on 23 January 2013 allowing soil and debris to enter the network.
There were “deficiencies” in Southern Water’s investigation into, and handling of the event that meant the location of the leak was not identified until 1 March 2013, the DWI found.
Marcus Rink, chief inspector of drinking water, said: “Following a lengthy investigation which commenced in 2016, a previously undisclosed and significant water quality incident from 2013 was uncovered where there was a failure to protect consumers.
“Flagrant disregard for regulatory duties and consumer protection will always result in action by the inspectorate in the public interest.”
Dr Alison Hoyle, director of compliance and asset resilience at Southern Water, said: “We apologise unreservedly for the incident that affected water for customers and consumers in the Ventnor and surrounding area in 2013. We fully accept the court’s judgment.
“It is never acceptable to provide water that does not meet the highest standards and this is why we pleaded guilty to the one charge.
“Over the past two years a new management team has been put in place and procedures have been updated to ensure that we always supply water to the highest possible standards and we are able to respond to events as quickly, safely and thoroughly as possible.
“We take our environmental and public health responsibilities extremely seriously and will be working with our regulators to ensure we are fully compliant.”
There were no reports of illness relating to the water quality incident and in summing up, Judge Hetherington, said: “This is a very different company now.”
Southern Water said it has made “root and branch” changes to the way it operates, including the appointment of Hoyle in April 2017 to lead a compliance and asset resilience team.
The company also appointed Dr Guy Franklin, a former DWI inspector, as head of water quality and compliance.
A new team of public health advisers charged with improving and auditing water quality and hygiene processes support the work of Southern Water.
The company said aside from direct investment in compliance and resilience it has implemented a collaborative approach to working with regulators in what it refers to as “Water First”.
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