South West Water is a privatised water company in England, operating across Cornwall, Devon and parts of the South West. It is regulated by Ofwat and the Environment Agency, and owned by Pennon Group, a London Stock Exchange–listed company.
In September 2025, South West Water was fined £24 million by Ofwat for breaching legal obligations in operating its wastewater network. Investigators found the company to have failed in a number of areas, including its operations, maintenance and capacity of sewage overflows.
South West Water is responsible for 157 designated bathing waters (more than a third of England’s total) yet it continues to enforce excessive sewage discharges, with a total spill time of 407005 hours in 2025. The company has performed significantly below target for more than a decade and has received a ‘red’ rating for pollution incidents from sewage assets for 14 consecutive years, gaining only one star since 2021 edging into the ‘needs improvement’ category.
In May 2024, South West Water presided over a major public health scandal in Brixham, where cryptosporidium contamination of drinking water led to over 16,000 properties placed under a boil-water notice, dozens of confirmed illnesses and hospitalisations. In 2025, the Drinking Water Inspectorate issued a court summons under the Water Industry Act. Ofwat concluded South West Water failed to build, operate and manage its wastewater system to meet legal requirements and lacked the governance needed to prevent pollution and protect public health.
South West Water urgently needs to stop treating enforcement action, illness and environmental damage as the cost of doing business and start investing in the health of people and the environment.
