South West Water fined £1.85m over parasite outbreak in Devon

Utility company pleaded guilty to criminal offence of supplying water unfit for humans

• ‘My son is still suffering’: the ill effects of water contamination in ‘Brixham incident’

A utility company has been fined £1.85m for supplying water unfit for human consumption after a parasite outbreak made hundreds of people sick and forced thousands of households to boil their water.

South West Water (SWW) pleaded guilty to the criminal offence relating to a cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Brixham, Devon, in the spring and summer of 2024.