South West Water (SWW) has been fined £1.85 million for supplying water unfit for human consumption after a cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Brixham, Devon, in spring and summer 2024. The utility company pleaded guilty to the criminal offence, which affected hundreds of people and forced thousands of households to boil their water.
Judge Smith described the incident as a 'serious failure' that caused 'wide-ranging, multilayered and profound' harm. He noted that water companies are 'regional monopolies' with 'captive customers', and the outbreak led to an enduring mistrust of local tap water. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed it was a record fine for a drinking water offence.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) brought the prosecution, with barrister Joe Millington stating that the outbreak likely originated from a compromised air valve on farmland where cattle and sheep were kept. The valve was covered in mud with a broken seal, and water pooled across the field. Millington said SWW's air valves 'were not being inspected in accordance with the policy [SWW] drafted in 2020', and the farm had never been inspected despite being a 'high-risk site'.
The court heard that 537 people became ill, with 159 requiring healthcare and 10 admitted to hospital. Victims suffered diarrhoea, stomach cramps, dizziness and sickness. Impact statements described severe physical and emotional effects, including a child needing a drip in hospital and a parent whose child had night terrors about a 'bug in the water'. School attendance and GCSE results were also affected, particularly for disadvantaged children.
Millington noted that risks around air valves were known for over a decade, and the DWI had recommended formal inspection policies four years before the outbreak, yet 'not a single air valve was inspected'. At one point, SWW wrongly lifted a boil water notice for 28 houses due to 'issues with its digital mapping system'.
Dominic Kay KC, for SWW, apologised unreservedly and expressed genuine remorse. He said the company had created an inspection policy but failed to implement it. He suggested a second ingress of cryptosporidiosis occurred via illegal 'cross connections' between safe and unsafe water. The company warned residents to boil water as soon as the problem was identified. SWW has had 22 previous convictions.
