Owner of South West Water suffers £16m damage from parasite infestation from Devon
Pennon Group has revealed £16 million in damages as a result of the parasite infestation crisis that hit Brixham, Devon earlier this year.
The owner of South West Water, who also announced an increasing number of pollution cases 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 outbreak in May left some residents hospitalized and hundreds of others sickened after cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes diarrhea and illness, entered the local water supply.
Pennon also said heavy rainfall had affected pollution levels during the period
Around 17,000 homes and businesses in Brixham were told to boil their water on May 15 as cases of illness swept the town.
Residents had to boil tap water for eight weeks and then let it cool before they could drink it.
Pennon said: ‘The cryptosporidium water quality event in Brixham this summer was an incredibly rare event for SWW and we worked quickly and carefully to identify the problem, clean the network and restore full supply to all customers.’
Pennon also said on Thursday that wet weather has “impacted” the number of pollution incidents across its network this year.
It added: ‘We have continued to see plenty of rain, with the third wettest October to August since records began, with groundwater levels remaining exceptionally high.
‘As a result, the overall number of overflow leaks from storm flooding has increased, but our interventions have removed two-thirds of our largest 2023 spills.
‘Continued higher than normal rainfall and groundwater levels in 2024 have had an impact on the overall number of pollution incidents, in addition to the performance of a small number of treatment works.
‘We continue to invest in our infrastructure and make targeted operational interventions to protect the environment.’
Pennon shares fell 1.7 percent to 590p in afternoon trading.
Aarin Chiekrie, equities analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Scrutiny of the sector remains high, and the new Labor government has pledged to crack down on water companies discharging untreated sewage into lakes and rivers.
‘The group has already brought forward £75 million of planned investment to help improve storm overflow infrastructure.
‘But like all UK water companies, Pennon will have to do much more to clean up its act if it hopes to avoid paying hefty fines in the future.’
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