By Ian Walker
Thames Water will continue to cooperate with the U.K. Water Services Regulation Authority over its investigation into sewage treatment and discharges, it said Tuesday.
The regulator, known as Ofwat, launched the investigation last month after some companies said they might not be treating as much sewage at their wastewater treatment works as they should be, resulting in sewage discharges into the environment.
It said it has now reached the next stage in its enforcement cases into companies’ management of their sewage treatment and wider networks but was unable to comment further given that this was a continuing investigation.
Ofwat said that the companies–which include Thames Water, Northumbrian Water and Yorkshire Water–now have a chance to respond to its provisional findings ahead of its final proposals, expected to be published in the first quarter of next year.
If any of the companies are found to have breached the regulations, it can impose a fine of up to 10% of a company’s relevant turnover.
Thames Water said that it is considering the initial findings in detail and may make representations to the regulator in due course.
“The investigation by the Environment Agency into all water and wastewater companies in England and Wales continues. Currently, there is no indication of any date for this investigation to reach a conclusion,” the company said.
Yorkshire Water said it was fully cooperating with the investigation and will be responding to the provisional findings in due course.
“We take our commitment to care for the environment very seriously. Since we were notified that Ofwat were investigating our flow compliance across wastewater treatment works, we have been cooperating fully with the investigation and responding in detail to their requests for further information and data,” a Yorkshire Water spokesperson said.
Northumbrian Water didn’t immediately respond when contacted for comment by Dow Jones Newswires.
Write to Ian Walker at [email protected]
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