Anglian Water fined for polluting conservation area

Anglian Water has been fined £300,000 for illegally discharging sewage into a watercourse that feeds into the Broads Special Area of Conservation in Norfolk in November 2018.

On 5 December 2024, Anglian Water Services Limited was sentenced at Basildon Magistrates' Court to pay a fine of £300,000, alongside £21,896.56 in costs and a £171 victim surcharge. Anglian Water had pleaded guilty earlier in the year.

The pollution followed the discharge of untreated sewage into Spring Dyke, which feeds into Ormesby Broad, which is a public water supply and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The court heard that the discharge was caused by a blockage of unflushable items in the pumping well, and that Anglian Water was aware of issues with the pumping station. There had been ten sewage discharges since 2003, but the pumping station does not hold an emergency overflow permit.

The Environment Agency found high levels of ammonia in the polluted water, along with thousands of dead fish and many more in distress, requiring the use of aerators to prevent further death. The court found that Anglian Water had been negligent, and the judge highlighted “a risk that this [pollution] could have entered the public water supply”.

In a statement the water company said:

“Our actions at Ormesby fell well below the high standard we set for ourselves. We care deeply about any impact we have on the environment and are sorry this event happened."

It went on to say it had "fundamentally changed how the water recycling side of the business operates" in the six years since the Ormesby incident adding: "We’ve put in place new processes, invested in new technology and additional monitoring, including specifically at Ormesby, all of which are already working to minimise the risk of anything like this happening again." It said an additional £100m investment from its shareholders this year have enabled it to "accelerate our work on reducing spills and pollutions" and to "progress in the right direction" while acknowledging "there is still more work to do.”

The Environment Agency said that Anglian Water has been convicted of 105 offences since 16 November 1990, and reported that its water company inspections will increase to 4,000 by the end of March 2025; 10,000 in 2025/6 and 11,500 in 2026/27.