Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 16, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
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Anglian Water fined £1.4M for drinking water contamination, impacting 1.3M people. Government review seeks water sector reform.
(Corrects spelling of Anglian throughout)
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's Anglian Water was fined 1.4 million pounds ($1.9 million) over drinking water contamination, in the latest scandal in an industry which is facing a public backlash over environmental failures and rising bills.
The government has launched a review aimed at reforming the privatised water sector to improve its environmental performance after years of under-investment led to repeated sewage spills into Britain's rivers and seas. It is due to report this summer.
Anglian Water, which supplies eastern England, reported its use of unapproved plastic-based products in pipework to the Drinking Water Inspectorate and pleaded guilty in court for the failures which impacted 1.3 million people in 2021.
"Contamination of drinking water on any scale is scandalous and a complete disgrace," Environment Minister Steve Reed said in a statement on Friday.
"The record 1.4 million pound fine handed down sends a clear signal that this criminal behaviour is unacceptable."
All of the issues across Anglian Water's network have now been rectified, the statement added.
($1 = 0.7528 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar)
The article discusses Anglian Water's £1.4 million fine for drinking water contamination and the broader issues in the UK's water sector.
Anglian Water was fined due to the use of unapproved materials in pipework, leading to drinking water contamination affecting 1.3 million people.
The UK government has launched a review to reform the privatised water sector, aiming to improve environmental performance and prevent future issues.
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