South West Water owner suffers £16m loss from parasitic pollution in Devon

Pennon Group has revealed £16m of damage from the parasitic pollution crisis that hit Brixham, Devon, earlier this year.

Owner South West Water, which also announced a rise in pollution spills over the past year, said the costs covered compensation to affected households, a two-month supply of bottled water to the area and “extensive” clean-up work.

The May outbreak hospitalized some residents and left hundreds of others sick after cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes diarrhea and illness, entered the local water supply.

On 15 May, around 17,000 homes and businesses in Brixham were ordered to boil their water as illnesses broke out in the town.

Residents had to boil tap water and then let it cool before drinking it for a period of eight weeks.

Pennon said: ‘The Cryptosporidium water quality event in Brixham this summer was an incredibly rare event for SWW and we worked quickly and diligently to identify the issue, clean the network and restore full supply to all customers.’

Pennon also said on Thursday that wet weather had “impacted” the number of pollution incidents on its network this year.

He added: “We have continued to see heavy rainfall, with the third wettest October to August on record, and groundwater levels remain exceptionally high.

‘As a result, there has been an increase in the number of major spills from storm surges, however, our interventions have eliminated two-thirds of our highest spills as of 2023.

‘Rainfall and groundwater levels, which remained above normal in 2024, have affected the main number of pollution incidents, along with the performance of a small number of treatment plants.

“We continue to invest in our infrastructure and carry out specific operational interventions to protect the environment.”

Pennon shares fell 1.7 percent to 590 pence in afternoon trading.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Regulatory scrutiny on the sector remains high, with the new Labour government promising to crack down on water companies that dump untreated wastewater into lakes and rivers.

‘The group has already brought forward £75m of planned investment to help improve its storm surge protection infrastructure.

‘But, as with all UK water companies, Pennon will have to do much more to improve its behaviour if it is to avoid paying hefty fines in the future.’