United Utilities was fined £750,000 at Preston Crown Court yesterday following a previous hearing where the company admitted three breaches of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010.
The company has apologised for a pump breakdown which allowed wastewater to enter the Duddon Estuary at Millom.
The incident happened at a pumping station in King Street, Millom, during a weekend in mid May 2013. A pump had broken, allowing a dilute mixture of storm and wastewater to spill into the estuary though an overflow pipe. Unfortunately, another pump was also away for repair and the alarm didn’t let engineers know there was a problem. A member of staff discovered the pump failure during a routine inspection early on Monday morning and took immediate action to rectify the problem. Within hours, temporary pumps were brought in to prevent any further unconsented spills and staff carried out a clean-up of the salt marsh.
United Utilities Managing Director Steve Fraser said:
“We are very sorry this incident happened. We proactively reported it to the Environment Agency ourselves as soon as we became aware of it, and there was no evidence of any ill effects on the environment.
“We have worked closely with the Environment Agency to understand what happened. Tankers and temporary pumps helped make sure there were no further discharges at the time, and we scoured the salt marsh for unpleasant litter. Fortunately there was none.
“We’ve spent £18m improving sewage disposal and treatment at Millom to improve the general health of the Duddon Estuary.”
As part of that project, King Street Pumping Station was completely re-fitted. All the pumps, the power supply and the alarm system were replaced and its capacity to pump storm water to the nearby treatment works has more than doubled.
United Utilities admitted the following breaches of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010:
- allowing an illegal water discharge activity;
- failing to provide a 24-hour telemetry alarm;
- and failing to ensure the good working order of duty and stand-by pumps.
The company is now considering lodging an appeal relating to the level of the fine.
Ray Moulds, Sales Director at Flood Control International, takes a look at how automated sliding floodgates are supporting secondary containment at water and sewerage company sites.
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
ERG, the leading supplier of odour control systems and industrial gas cleaning & thermal systems, has been awarded the coveted King’s Award for Enterprise.
Welsh Water’s new artificial intelligence-driven tool, ORAI, has been shortlisted for three categories at the prestigious British Data Awards 2026 – underscoring the company’s commitment to using cutting-edge technology to deliver better outcome for customers.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.