Not a day goes by without the privatised water companies in England hitting the headlines for scandal:
Anglian Water fined record £1.42m for contaminating water supply. Firm prosecuted after unapproved material in tanks led to flakes and powder entering drinking water of 1.3m people.
Anglian Water has been fined a record £1.42m for contaminating the water supply.
The company, which covers the east of England, received the fine at Northampton crown court after a prosecution brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) for failures that affected 1.3 million people.
An investigation found that between June and December 2021 the company used unapproved materials in five drinking water tanks at four sites across its network.
Anglian was found to have used unauthorised plastic-based products to externally coat pipework submerged within tanks. These coatings later broke down into flakes and powder and entered the water supply.
Anglian reported the failures to the DWI and pleaded guilty in court.
Prem Sika, Emeritus Professor of Accounting and Labour Member of UK House of Lords, comments:
“Anglian Water pleads guilty, fined £1.42m for contaminating water supply. No exec fined. AW already has 128 criminal convictions. Allowed to operate, fleece customers, dump sewage, neglect investment, pay dividends and exec bonuses. End the farce. Must remove profit motive. Nationalise.”
