Anglian Water and South West Water have been ordered to pay a total of £86.8m by Ofwat for breaches relating to their wastewater treatment networks.

The two latest cases mean the water regulator has now closed five wastewater investigations in 2025, resulting in enforcement action worth more than £240m.

Ofwat’s latest investigations found that both Anglian Water and South West Water failed to operate, maintain and upgrade their wastewater assets adequately to ensure they could cope with the flows of sewage and wastewater coming to them.

The regular also said the pair failed to have in place adequate processes by their senior management to ensure their assets were performing adequately, and that they were meeting the expected legal requirements.

Anglian Water and its shareholders will fund a total enforcement package of £62.8m in relation to the failings, while South West Water will fund an enforcement package of £24m.

Senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, Lynn Parker, said the breaches were “serious” and “unacceptable”.

“We understand that the public wants to see transformative change,” Parker commented. “That is why we are prioritising this sector-wide investigation which is holding wastewater companies to account for identified failures.

“We are pleased both companies have accepted that they got things wrong and are now focusing on putting that right and taking action to come back into compliance. We expect all companies to do the same so that customers can regain confidence in their water company and the critical service they provide.”

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