South West Water has received a record fine under drinking water law following the South West Water cryptosporidium fine handed down at Exeter Magistrates’ Court, totalling £1,930,000 after a parasitic outbreak left hundreds of Devon residents ill and more than 16,000 homes under boil-water notices.
Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite found in soil and water that causes cryptosporidiosis, an infection producing severe sickness and diarrhoea. It is resistant to standard chlorine disinfection, which is why contaminated water can pass routine treatment checks before the problem is detected.
What happened in Brixham
The outbreak came to light when Torbay Hospital reported five cases of cryptosporidiosis on 10 May 2024. South West Water was informed three days later and reviewed its sampling data, which appeared clear. By 14 May, however, several customers had reported an abnormal taste or smell in their tap water, and in the early hours of 15 May, samples from the Hillhead area confirmed the parasite’s presence.
Boil notices were issued to 16,221 properties, covering a population of 38,930 people. For some households those notices remained in place for up to 54 days, and 674 properties were still affected as late as 8 July, when the notices were fully lifted. During that period, residents were required to boil and cool water before using it for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, and infant feeding.
District Judge Stuart Smith described the disruption as extensive. Schools faced difficulties ahead of GCSE exams, care homes and nurseries were affected, and businesses across the area felt the impact. ‘The cumulative impact on public confidence in the safety of drinking water was substantial,’ the judge said.
How the contamination is believed to have occurred
Later that same day on 8 July, engineers from South West Water found a damaged air valve in a field on Hillhead Farm, forming part of the water main. The concrete chamber around the valve had been removed, the metal lid was missing, and the chamber had filled with soil, silt and water. Soil samples taken close to the valve tested positive for cryptosporidium. Further investigations at the farm uncovered unlawful cross-connections between the site’s private borehole system and the public mains supply, which prosecutors described as another potential cause of the outbreak.
Judge Smith noted that the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) had issued a clear recommendation to South West Water in 2020 about maintaining air valves, and the company had drafted a policy for regular inspection. That policy was never put into practice. ‘That amounts in my view to a systemic failure of governance within the organisation,’ the judge said.
The human cost
There were 537 probable or confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis, with at least 10 people admitted to hospital. Victim personal statements read to the court described the lasting effects on residents’ lives. One person, taken to hospital by ambulance after ten days of flu-like symptoms followed by vomiting and diarrhoea, said: ‘My illness made me feel as if I had been beaten up. It was a long process of getting over it.’
Another resident described drinking from their kitchen tap water that ‘tasted like it had come from a pond’. They were forced to cancel a long-haul holiday and lost almost a stone in weight. Jennifer Watts, 52, supported by legal firm Irwin Mitchell, told the court her ten-year-old son spent three nights in hospital. ‘One of my biggest fears is that life will never be the same again after this experience,’ she said.
The South West Water cryptosporidium fine and its wider significance
The breakdown of the penalty was a fine of £1,853,000, a £2,000 surcharge, and £75,000 in costs. The DWI, which brought the prosecution, confirmed this was a record for a drinking water offence in England and Wales. South West Water pleaded guilty to an offence under section 70(1) of the Water Industry Act 1991, which covers supplying water unfit for human consumption.
Dominic Kay KC, representing the company, offered an ‘unreserved apology’ on behalf of South West Water, stating that senior management wished to record ‘genuine remorse’. He argued the company had acted ‘entirely reasonably and properly’ from the point at which it was first notified of the outbreak, and said it had been unaware of both the valve damage and the unlawful cross-connections. South West Water’s owner Pennon has previously stated the total bill for the outbreak reached nearly £40 million.
Marcus Rink, chief inspector of the DWI, said the outcome showed that ‘when failings occur, there will be serious consequences’. Caroline Voaden, Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, said many in Brixham would feel the fine ‘does not reflect the seriousness of the contamination or the effects it had on public health and the local economy’, adding that reform of the water industry required the government to accept that no company should profit from water.
