Wessex Water will fund an £11 million enforcement package following regulator Ofwat’s findings of wastewater failures.
The company was found to have inadequately operated, maintained, and upgraded its wastewater network, leaving it unable to manage sewage and wastewater flows effectively.
The package follows Ofwat’s proposed decision announced on 11 November and a subsequent 21-day consultation allowing customers and stakeholders to comment. Wessex Water and its shareholders will cover the cost, rather than passing it on to customers.
The investment is described as “over and above” the obligations set out in the company’s price review and separate from measures required to achieve regulatory compliance.
The enforcement package includes several measures: helping private landowners seal sewer pipes to prevent groundwater entering the network, reducing spills at specific storm overflows through early investment, installing additional monitoring equipment at treatment works and storm overflows, and supporting customers in managing rainwater sustainably at their properties.
Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: “We are pleased with the conclusion of Wessex Water’s case. This is the sixth case completed in our wider wastewater investigation, which during 2025 has resulted in Ofwat securing £250m in fines and enforcement packages. 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 supplies South West England, covering Bristol, most of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire, as well as parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire.
