Wessex Water has been fined £500,000 for polluting two rivers and killing thousands of fish.
The company admitted a series of failings which led to the release of untreated sewage into rivers in Wiltshire and North Somerset in 2018.
Janine Maclean, of the Environment Agency, said: “These cases are further examples of a water company breaking the law and causing serious pollution. »
This is the second highest fine in the company's history. A Wessex Water spokesperson apologized and said the incidents “should not have happened”.
Clackers Brook is a small river in Wiltshire. It rises near Bromham and extends just five miles to Melksham, where it joins the River Avon.
But for the first five miles it passes Wessex Water's sewage pumping station at Bowerhill Lodge.
In April 2018, the company allowed untreated stormwater and sewage to flow into the river for 54 hours.
Later that year there was a mechanical and electrical breakdown which led to more sewage spilling into Clackers Brook.
The Environment Agency found that 2,100 fish died, including eels and lampreys, threatened and protected species.
Investigators reported that all fish within a one-kilometer radius of the spill were killed.
Senior officer Janine Maclean said it was “very sad that the pollution had such serious impacts – killing fish and other aquatic life”.
The agency took Wessex Water to court for violating its permit, and the company admitted to the violations.
Meanwhile, in North Somerset, near Weston-super-Mare, another sewer pipe burst in August 2018. Once again, untreated effluent has polluted rivers and the local drainage system of swamp.
This led to the death of more fish, including sticklebacks and eels.
The sewage pipe in question was what is called a “rise pipe,” a pipe through which sewage is pumped under pressure.
The rising pipe had already been identified by Wessex Water before the incident as a critical pipe that needed to be monitored, but monitoring was only put in place after the incident.
District Judge Joanna Dickens, sitting at Swindon Magistrates' Court, ruled that the company had been negligent, due to “the failure to install monitoring equipment earlier”.
The Environment Agency has said Wessex Water's rising pipes are “ageing” and are responsible for many of the company's pollution incidents.
Janine Maclean, of the Environment Agency, said: “We recognize that the company is increasing its monitoring of rising pipes, but monitoring is still dependent on breakdowns, and we would like to see the company significantly increase the level of monitoring. investment it makes to proactively replace rising pipes before they fail.”
A Wessex Water spokesperson apologized for the incidents and said the company did what it could as soon as it realized what had happened.
They continued: “Since these incidents took place, we have invested in AI technology to detect where potential issues on our network could arise to further protect the environment. »
