SOUTH West Water (SWW) has been sentenced at Plymouth Magistrates Court and hit with a hefty fine after pleading guilty to a slew of sewage pollution related charges.

Following the verdict the company issued and apology for “what happened in the past”.

SWW faced 18 charges across Devon and Cornwall, in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.

The offences took place between January 2015 and July 2021 in five locations: Bodmin, Harlyn, Playing Place, Polperro and Plymouth.

Among the most serious incidents were 336 illegal sewage spills from the company’s treatment works near Bodmin over a seven-year period to March 2020. The discharges entered the River Camel, a protected Special Area of Conservation and an important habitat for Atlantic salmon, bullhead and otters.

The company also admitted that untreated sewage was discharged onto Harlyn Beach on 231 occasions between January 2016 and July 2021. At Hooe Lake near Plymouth, a pumping station failure in August 2020 resulted in sewage being discharged continuously for 88 hours over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The Environment Agency said three of the admitted offences occurred during an August Bank Holiday, while the affected sites included environmentally protected habitats and popular recreational areas.

The company admitted to 17 illegal discharges, with the Holywell Bay incident being adjourned to be heard at a later date (December 18).

Having previously sentenced SWW in 2023, District Judge (Magistrates’ Court) Joanna Matson reiterated today that incidents of pollution by water companies will not be tolerated.

She said she hoped this fine of almost £8-million would prove a future deterrent for this type of pollution.

She said: “I have taken into account that these incidents pre-date that sentence and I have also taken into account the changes that SWW have made since then. Only time will tell if those changes are successful, I certainly hope that will be the case.”

In response, South West Water said: “These proceedings concern historic matters between 2015 and 2021 and the majority of the charges concerned the use of overflows in storm conditions. We’re investing £760-million to tackle storm overflows and have reduced spills by 17 per cent in the last year alone, with spill duration down by 25 per cent.

“Significant improvements have been made across the sites concerned including a new treatment process at Scarletts Well in Bodmin, upgrades at Harlyn pumping station and the replacement of pumps at Halvarras pumping station, and work in the catchment to remove surface water and illegal connections into the network.

“We apologise for what happened in the past, and we remain focused on the future as we deliver record levels of investment to achieve cleaner rivers and seas across the South West by 2040, a decade ahead of national targets.”

Judge Matson ordered a total of £7,867,733 be paid by SWW within 56 days.