South West Water (SWW) has been fined £1.85 million after pleading guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption, following a cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Brixham, Devon, during spring and summer 2024. The outbreak sickened hundreds of people and forced thousands of households to boil their water.
Court Ruling and Impact
Judge Smith described the failure as serious, noting the harm caused was wide-ranging, multilayered, and profound. He highlighted that water companies are regional monopolies with captive customers, and the outbreak led to enduring mistrust of local tap water. One resident was quoted saying, "In this country we are lucky to have good drinking water but we have lost trust in our water supply."
Prosecution Details
Joe Millington, representing the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), stated that schools and other services were affected, and the local economy suffered. The outbreak significantly undermined public confidence in the water supply. The likely cause was a compromised air valve on farmland where cattle and sheep were kept, covered in mud with a broken seal, allowing water to pool across the field. SWW's air valves were not inspected according to their own 2020 policy, and the high-risk farm had never been inspected.
Millington reported that 537 people fell ill, with 159 seeking healthcare and 10 hospitalized. Symptoms included diarrhea, stomach cramps, dizziness, and sickness. Victims experienced physical and emotional effects, with vulnerable community members and children profoundly impacted. Statements read in court described feeling beaten up, losing weight, and children requiring hospital drips. One mother had to supervise her four-year-old during showers to prevent him from drinking tap water, and another child suffered night terrors about a "bug in the water." School pupils missed classes, exams, trips, and sports, affecting attendance and GCSE results, particularly for disadvantaged children.
During the crisis, SWW wrongly lifted a boil-water notice for 28 houses due to issues with its digital mapping system. Risks around air valves had been known for over a decade, and the DWI recommended formal inspection policies four years before the outbreak, yet not a single air valve was inspected.
Defense and Company Response
Dominic Kay KC, for SWW, apologized unreservedly and expressed genuine remorse. The company had created an air valve inspection policy following the DWI recommendation but failed to implement it. Kay suggested a second cryptosporidiosis ingress from the farm via illegal cross-connections between safe drinking water and unsafe water. He also noted that the valve cover had been deliberately removed, allowing silt, soil, and water to accumulate. SWW warned people not to boil water as soon as the problem was identified.
The court heard that SWW has 22 convictions since June 2014, including supplying unfit water in north Devon in 2018. Caroline Voaden, Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, criticized the company: "Words like incompetent and reckless are so often used to describe our broken water industry that they have almost lost their meaning. But the truth is South West Water failed at their most basic duty, and no amount of money will ever fully regain the customer trust they squandered."
SWW pleaded guilty under the Water Industry Act 1991 and faced an unlimited fine.
