LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Anglian Water was fined 1.4 million pounds ($1.9 million) over drinking water contamination, in the latest scandal in an industry which is facing a public backlash over environmental failures and rising bills.
The government has launched a review aimed at reforming the privatised water sector to improve its environmental performance after years of under-investment led to repeated sewage spills into Britain’s rivers and seas. It is due to report this summer.
Anglian Water, which supplies eastern England, reported its use of unapproved plastic-based products in pipework to the Drinking Water Inspectorate and pleaded guilty in court for the failures which impacted 1.3 million people in 2021.
“Contamination of drinking water on any scale is scandalous and a complete disgrace,” Environment Minister Steve Reed said in a statement on Friday.
“The record 1.4 million pound fine handed down sends a clear signal that this criminal behaviour is unacceptable.”
All of the issues across Anglian Water’s network have now been rectified, the statement added.
($1 = 0.7528 pounds)
(This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of ‘Anglian’ throughout the copy)
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar)
