Thames Water fined £123million in largest-ever penalty by regulator Ofwat

Thames Water has been fined £122.7million following two investigations by the regulator . The struggling utility company will pay £104.5million for wastewater breaches and a further £18.2million for breaking rules relating to dividend payments.

The fine against is the largest-ever penalty issued by Ofwat, who says it will be paid by the company and its investors, and not by customers.

It comes after the regulator launched what it called its "biggest and most complex investigation" into all wastewater companies’ operation, management and maintenance of their sewage treatment works and sewerage networks.

The probe revealed a significant breach of the company’s legal obligations. The wastewater fine was first proposed last year and confirmed today.

David Black, chief executive at Ofwat, said: “This is a clear-cut case where Thames Water has let down its customers and failed to protect the environment.

“Our investigation has uncovered a series of failures by the company to build, maintain and operate adequate infrastructure to meet its obligations.

“The company also failed to come up with an acceptable redress package that would have benefited the environment, so we have imposed a significant financial penalty.

“This decision provides certainty for the company for both its past failures and what we expect from the company to comply with its obligations in future.

“The company is seeking new buyers to fund its turnaround to provide better services for customers and the environment by improving operational performance and financial resilience.

“This provides a clear opportunity to break with the past, Thames Water will now need to correct the issues our investigation has identified.”

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A spokesperson from Thames Water said: “We take our responsibility towards the environment very seriously and note that Ofwat acknowledges we have already made progress to address issues raised in the investigation relating to storm overflows.

“The dividends were declared following a consideration of the company’s legal and regulatory obligations. Our lenders continue to support our liquidity position and our equity raise process continues.“

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “The Government has launched the toughest crackdown on water companies in history.

“Last week we announced a record 81 criminal investigations have been launched into water companies. Today Ofwat announce the largest fine ever handed to a water company in history.

“The era of profiting from failure is over. The Government is cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.”