- Package to be paid by the company and its shareholders, for the benefit of the environment and customers.
- The company will also be required to rectify any identified breaches and ensure its future compliance.
- Six wastewater cases have now been closed in 2025, with more than £250m in fines and redress confirmed.
Ofwat has confirmed that Wessex Water will fund an £11m enforcement package after the company failed to operate, maintain and upgrade its wastewater network adequately to ensure that they could cope with the flows of sewage and wastewater.
The package follows our proposed decision announced on 11 November and a 21-day consultation period where customers and stakeholders could feedback on the draft decision.
This investment will be paid for by the company and its shareholders and not through customer bills. It is over and above the investment Wessex Water is required to deliver under the price review and separate from the steps the company will need to take to become compliant.
The package includes:
- Helping private landowners to seal their sewer pipes to prevent unnecessary groundwater reaching Wessex Water’s network;
- Reducing spills at specific storm overflows through investment which would have otherwise occurred beyond 2030;
- Installing additional monitoring equipment to better enable management of flows at treatment works and storm overflows;
- Helping customers to sustainably manage rainwater at their properties.
Lynn Parker, Senior Director for Enforcement at Ofwat, said: “We are pleased with the conclusion of Wessex Water’s case. This is the sixth case completed in our wider wastewater investigation, which during 2025 has resulted in Ofwat securing £250m in fines and enforcement packages. These cases are a crucial part of holding water companies to account and driving the transformation of the water sector that the public wants to see.”
