Wessex Water has become the latest utility to face a multimillion pound enforcement package for sewage leaks, the industry regulator has announced.
Ofwat said the company, which has 2.9 million customers in the South West, was to pay £11m more towards its wastewater infrastructure upgrades instead of a fine.
The watchdog, which is facing the axe itself under a planned shake-up of industry oversight, said Wessex failed to operate, maintain and upgrade its network to ensure it could cope with flows of waste including sewage.
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It ruled that Wessex, which is owned by Malaysia-based YTL, could not fund the required additional investment through company bills. The money was to be spent on a number of specific projects.
Ofwat said Wessex was the sixth case it had completed in its wider wastewater investigation, which has resulted in £250m in fines and enforcement packages.
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Almost half that sum is at the foot of cash-strapped Thames Water, the country’s biggest operator, which is currently seeking approval for a change of ownership to prevent collapse.
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Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: “These cases are a crucial part of holding water companies to account and driving the transformation of the water sector that the public wants to see.”
Wessex Water said it regretted the impact its wastewater performance “on customers and the environment”.
The company said the investment package “will tackle the problem directly” and that it was planning to invest £300m million in its sewerage infrastructure by 2030.
