Ofwat’s investigation has regarded into whether or not the three firms have been offering clients with the extent of service they’re entitled to underneath the regulation.
It has discovered the three firms did not adequately spend money on and keep 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 biggest high-quality on document of £104m.
The regulator’s chief government, David Black, stated: “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 doubtlessly been launched illegally 6,000 occasions in 2022 by England’s water firms in breach of their permits.
Releasing uncooked sewage has the potential to considerably injury the atmosphere and poses a threat to human well being for these swimming in a river or sea the place sewage is being discharged.
Ofwat can high-quality firms as much as 10% of their annual gross sales. Within the case of Thames Water, the proposed high-quality is 9% of gross sales, which Mr Black informed the BBC “displays the severity of the offences”.
The regulator discovered that greater than two-thirds of Thames Water’s wastewater therapy works had operational points, and that almost all of Yorkshire Water’s wastewater therapy works had often spilled sewage into the atmosphere since 2018 pointing to a “systematic situation”.
A Thames Water spokesperson stated: “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 stated they had been disillusioned by Ofwat’s determination.
Ofwat continues its investigations into an additional 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,” stated Tessa Wardley, director of advocacy at environmental charity Rivers Belief.
“It appears extremely probably that there’s extra to return when investigations into the opposite eight water firms is concluded.”
