Southern Water has been fined £7.1m after repeated illegal sewage pollution incidents forced the closure of beaches and harmed coastal communities in Kent. The incidents, which occurred between 2019 and 2021, were the result of equipment failures and poor oversight by the company.
The prosecution comes almost exactly five years after Southern Water received a record £90 million fine for nearly 7,000 illegal sewage discharges. Across five major pollution incidents, Southern Water repeatedly failed to maintain critical pumping equipment, delayed reporting pollution to regulators, and allowed untreated sewage to enter coastal waters.
The Environment Agency, which investigated the incidents, found that preventable equipment failures and poor operational oversight led to repeated discharges of untreated sewage. In one incident, around 10 million litres of sewage was discharged for almost 24 hours, while in another, at least 16 million litres of sewage was released into the sea over two days.
The failure to report pollution to the Environment Agency in a timely manner meant that local authorities were unable to warn the public about the risks of entering the water. The Environment Agency has demanded stronger oversight from Southern Water, stating that the company's track record shows that these incidents were preventable.