Ofwat Enforcement
Ofwat enforcement cases against regulated water companies in England and Wales — financial penalties, enforcement orders, undertakings, and open investigations.
20
Total cases
11
Open / under investigation
£446.2m
Total financial penalties
7
Financial penalties issued
Cases Opened by Year
Cases by Company
Showing 20 cases
| Case | Company | Outcome | Penalty | Opened | Closed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-HD-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into Hafren Dyfrdwy's wastewater treatment works and networks, opened N…
|
Hafren Dyfrdwy
Hafren Dyfrdwy
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-SW-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into Southern Water's wastewater treatment works and networks, opened N…
|
Southern Water
Southern Water
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-ANG-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into Anglian Water's wastewater treatment works and networks. Formal no…
|
Anglian Water
Anglian Water
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-UU-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into United Utilities' wastewater treatment works and networks. Formal …
|
United Utilities
United Utilities
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-DC-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into Dŵr Cymru's wastewater treatment works and networks. Formal notice…
|
Dŵr Cymru
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-ST-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into Severn Trent's wastewater treatment works and networks, opened Nov…
|
Severn Trent Water
Severn Trent Water
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-NW-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into Northumbrian Water's wastewater treatment works and networks, open…
|
Northumbrian Water
Northumbrian Water
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-SWW-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into South West Water's wastewater treatment works and networks, opened…
|
South West Water
South West Water
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-WW-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into Wessex Water's wastewater treatment works and networks, opened Nov…
|
Wessex Water
Wessex Water
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-YW-2021
Ofwat ongoing investigation into Yorkshire Water's wastewater treatment works and networks, opened …
|
Yorkshire Water
Yorkshire Water
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works and networks (ongoing)
OFW-ENF-OPEN-TW-2021
Ofwat opened enforcement investigations in November 2021 into all 11 water and sewerage companies i…
|
Thames Water
Thames Water
|
Open | — | Nov 2021 | — | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works performance
OFW-ENF-2024-WW
Ofwat found Wessex Water in breach of its licence conditions relating to wastewater treatment works…
|
Wessex Water
Wessex Water
|
Financial Penalty | £11,000,000 | Mar 2023 | Dec 2025 | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works performance
OFW-ENF-2024-ANG
Ofwat found Anglian Water in breach of its licence conditions relating to the performance of wastew…
|
Anglian Water
Anglian Water
|
Financial Penalty | £62,800,000 | Mar 2023 | Sep 2025 | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works performance
OFW-ENF-2024-SWW
Ofwat found South West Water in breach of its licence conditions relating to the performance of was…
|
South West Water
South West Water
|
Financial Penalty | £24,000,000 | Mar 2023 | Jul 2025 | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works performance
OFW-ENF-2024-NW
Ofwat found Northumbrian Water in breach of its licence conditions relating to wastewater treatment…
|
Northumbrian Water
Northumbrian Water
|
Financial Penalty | £15,700,000 | Mar 2023 | Jun 2025 | Case |
|
Wastewater operations and dividend payments
OFW-ENF-2024-TW
Ofwat found Thames Water in breach of its licence conditions relating to wastewater treatment works…
|
Thames Water
Thames Water
|
Financial Penalty | £122,700,000 | Mar 2023 | May 2025 | Case |
|
Wastewater treatment works performance
OFW-ENF-2024-YW
Ofwat accepted enforcement undertakings from Yorkshire Water in lieu of a financial penalty of up t…
|
Yorkshire Water
Yorkshire Water
|
Undertaking | — | Mar 2023 | Mar 2025 | Case |
|
Leakage and supply resilience performance
OFW-ENF-2023-AFW
Ofwat found Affinity Water in breach of its performance commitments relating to leakage reduction a…
|
Affinity Water
Affinity Water
|
Enforcement Order | £7,500,000 | Jan 2022 | Jun 2023 | Case |
|
Deliberate misreporting of performance data and sewage discharges
OFW-ENF-2021-SW
Southern Water was found to have deliberately misreported performance data to Ofwat over many years…
|
Southern Water
Southern Water
|
Financial Penalty | £90,000,000 | Oct 2019 | Jul 2021 | Case |
|
Leakage performance and financial resilience
OFW-ENF-2019-TW
Thames Water failed to meet its leakage performance commitment and was found in breach of its finan…
|
Thames Water
Thames Water
|
Financial Penalty | £120,000,000 | Jan 2017 | Jul 2019 | Case |
Data from Ofwat.
Penalty amounts are in GBP.