Britain’s largest water company, Thames Water Utilities Limited, has been ordered to pay more than £10,000 after pleading guilty to one offence of causing silt to enter a tributary of the Bydemill Brook in Wiltshire in 2008.
It is believed that this is the first time Thames Water has been prosecuted for polluting a watercourse as a result of a burst drinking water main.
On Tuesday 12 October Swindon Magistrates’ Court fined the company £2,500, plus a £15 victim surcharge, and ordered it to pay £8,000 prosecution costs, a total of £10,500.
The court heard that on the 20 June 2008 Environment Agency officers responded to a report of cloudiness in the Bydemill Brook at Crouch Hill, near Highworth, Swindon, Wiltshire. During the investigation they discovered that a leaking drinking water main was washing silt into a tributary of the Bydemill Brook, causing pollution which stretched for over 2.5 kilometres, affecting the Bydemill Brook itself and the River Thames.
Thames Water were informed and a team was sent out to repair the burst main. During an interview under caution the company admitted that the incident had been caused by faulty bolts on the water main and a pin hole leak.
There was potential for serious harm to the watercourses had the silt not been seen early and reported. Silt is composed of fine particles of earth which make the water cloudy and cut down light. This reduces growth of aquatic plants and therefore reduces oxygen levels in the water. Silt can physically damage fish gills and can cause death, affect growth rate and reduce resistance to disease.
It can gradually settle out on the bed of a watercourse, smothering or reducing the habitat for small insects which are part of the fish food chain. Silt can block gravels, smothering fish eggs or preventing spawning. It is also unsightly and an aesthetic nuisance in a stream or river.
Environment Officer Cheryl Rickard said:
“We believe this is the first time Thames Water has been prosecuted for pollution resulting from a damaged water main that has washed silt into a stream. We are pleased that the court’s sentence has sent out a clear message that pollution of our streams and rivers will not be tolerated."
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