Anglian Water has been hit with a record fine of £1.42 million after its failures resulted in flakes and powder contaminating the drinking water of approximately 1.3 million people in the East of England between June and December 2021, reports The BBC.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed called the issue "scandalous and a complete disgrace."
The water company admitted to five violations of the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 and was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court. Anglian Water was investigated by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which discovered that the company had "poor oversight" of its supply chain and inadequate staff training.
Anglian Water, which also serves customers in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Rutland, had been using unapproved plastic-based products to coat pipework submerged in water tanks. These coatings eventually degraded into flakes and powder, contaminating the water supply.
Reed stated, "Contamination of drinking water on any scale is scandalous and a complete disgrace." He added, "The record £1.4m fine handed down sends a clear signal that this criminal behaviour is unacceptable."
Anglian Water was investigated by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which discovered that the company had "poor oversight" of its supply chain and inadequate staff training
The DWI investigation revealed that Anglian Water continued to use water tanks even after discovering that they contained unapproved materials. All issues within the company’s network have now been addressed.
Marcus Rink, chief inspector of the DWI, emphasised, "Public health and drinking water quality must be the highest priority, and there can be no compromise. We’ve taken firm action in the public interest to ensure the company has removed all non-compliant material, so that customers can remain confident in their water supplies."
A spokeswoman for Anglian Water expressed regret for "falling short" of expectations and apologised to its customers. She said, "As a result, we have since invested significantly to improve these and have shared our learnings across the water industry."
She further noted, "Protecting the water supply of our customers could not be more fundamental to our business. Despite the breach, there was no evidence of any contamination of the water supply and the judge agreed based on independent expert reports that the risk to customers was very low."
