South West Water fined £1.85m over parasite outbreak in Devon

A utility company has been fined £1.85m for supplying water unfit for human consumption after a parasite outbreak made hundreds of people sick and forced thousands of households to boil their water. South West Water (SWW) pleaded guilty to the criminal offence relating to a cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Brixham, Devon, in the spring and summer of 2024. Judge Smith said: “This was a serious failure by South West Water . The harm caused was wide-ranging, multilayered and profound.” The judge said water companies were “regional monopolies” with “captive customers” and the outbreak had led to an enduring mistrust of the local tap water. He quoted one resident who said: “In this country we are lucky to have good drinking water but we have lost trust in our water supply.” The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it was a record fine for a drinking water offence. Joe Millington, for the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which brought the prosecution, said schools and other services were affected and the local economy hit. Millington said what happened “significantly undermined” people’s confidence in the water supply. He told Exeter magistrates that the outbreak was likely to have been caused by a compromised air valve on farmland, where cattle and sheep were kept. It was covered in mud and a seal was broken, with water pooling across the field. …