Southern Water has been fined £7,127,083 at Canterbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to 13 offences linked to illegal sewage discharges at Margate and Broadstairs pumping stations between 2019 and 2021, following an Environment Agency prosecution over repeated equipment failures and delayed pollution reporting.
TL;DR · LAST REVIEWED 17 July 2026
- Total fine: £7,127,083, plus £149,000 costs to the Environment Agency and a £181 victim surcharge
- 13 offences across five major incidents at Margate and Broadstairs pumping stations, 2019 to 2021
- Southern Water also admitted a further 35 illegal discharges over the same period
- Company delayed reporting pollution to regulators, at times preventing councils from warning swimmers
- Comes five years after Southern Water's record £90m fine for nearly 7,000 illegal discharges
KEY FACTS
- Fine: £7,127,083, plus £149,000 Environment Agency costs and a £181 victim surcharge
- 13 offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016
- Incidents span July 2019 to October 2021 at Margate and Broadstairs pumping stations
- Up to 16m litres of sewage released in a single incident, August 2020
- 10 beaches closed by Thanet District Council in one incident, June 2021
- Environment Agency has concluded over 70 water company prosecutions since 2015, totalling more than £153m in fines
What Southern Water was fined for
Southern Water has been fined more than £7.1 million at Canterbury Crown Court after admitting 13 offences connected to repeated illegal sewage discharges at its Margate and Broadstairs pumping stations in Kent between 2019 and 2021. The prosecution, brought by the Environment Agency, centred on five major pollution incidents caused by equipment failures the regulator says were preventable.
In July 2019, around 10 million litres of sewage was discharged over almost 24 hours after staff failed to properly diagnose a fault, the Environment Agency said. Southern Water is required to report pollution incidents to the regulator as soon as possible, but on this occasion did not do so until the following day, meaning Thanet District Council could not warn people against swimming at the time.
A similar pattern repeated across further incidents in August 2020, February 2021 and June 2021, involving failed pumps, a broken computer system and simultaneous equipment failures at both pumping stations. At least 16 million litres of sewage were released across two days in the August 2020 incident alone, and ten beaches were closed by Thanet District Council during the June 2021 incident, which struck at the height of summer as lockdown restrictions eased.
In each case, the Environment Agency said Southern Water was slow to report the pollution, delaying warnings to local authorities and the public. Southern Water also admitted a further 35 illegal discharges over the same period, and that a pump used to move sewage around its network was out of action for more than a year.
The £7,127,083 fine, plus £149,000 in costs to the Environment Agency and a £181 victim surcharge, comes almost exactly five years after Southern Water received a record £90 million fine for nearly 7,000 illegal sewage discharges between 2010 and 2015. The Environment Agency said it has concluded more than 70 prosecutions against water and sewerage companies since 2015, securing fines exceeding £153 million, with further action against Southern Water over separate Kent and Hampshire incidents still pending sentencing.
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Frequently asked questions
How much was Southern Water fined?
£7,127,083, plus £149,000 in costs to the Environment Agency and a £181 victim surcharge.
What caused the sewage discharges?
The Environment Agency found repeated equipment failures, including broken pumps and a failed computer system, at Margate and Broadstairs pumping stations between 2019 and 2021.
Did Southern Water report the incidents on time?
No. In multiple cases the company reported pollution to the Environment Agency only after a delay of a day or more, which meant local councils could not warn swimmers in time.
Has Southern Water been fined for sewage pollution before?
Yes. It received a record £90 million fine in 2021 for nearly 7,000 illegal sewage discharges between 2010 and 2015.
Is Southern Water facing further prosecution?
Yes. The Environment Agency is separately prosecuting Southern Water over other pollution incidents in Kent and Hampshire, with sentencing expected later in 2026.
SOURCES
- GOV.UK, Environment Agency – accessed 17 July 2026
