Anglian Water has been fined £1.6m after poorly treated sewage polluted the River Brain in Essex over a six-week period in 2022.
The Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the pollution was caused by local mismanagement at Anglian Water’s Braintree water recycling centre. The impact extended for nearly 14km between Braintree and Witham.
Faulty valve and missed alarms
The Environment Agency detected toxic ammonia levels that were the highest recorded in the river during the previous 10 years. Its investigation traced the source to a faulty valve at the treatment centre.
The valve had been broken for a week before the first incident in April 2022. This allowed semi-solid sludge, which is normally removed from sewage, to cause high ammonia levels in the river.
The government said staff ignored alarms warning that poorly treated sewage was being discharged and failed to communicate with each other about the incidents. The Environment Agency charged Anglian Water with discharging untreated sewage outside the environmental permit for the Braintree facility between 13 April and 2 June 2022. The company also faced a separate charge for failing to comply with the permit.
Environment Agency in East Anglia water industry regulatory manager Marcus Sibley said the incidents were the result of “organisational failure by Anglian Water to recognise risk and act on the warning signs”.
“The discharges caused a significant impact on the quality of River Brain,” he said.
Anglian Water response
Defra secretary of state Angela Eagle said Anglian Water had been “too slow to act” and that “the environment has paid the price”. She said the government was pursuing tougher regulation, stronger enforcement and greater accountability for water companies.
An Anglian Water spokesperson said the company’s procedures had “fallen well below the high standard we set for ourselves”, resulting in “unacceptably high ammonia levels” leaving the Braintree facility on two occasions.
The company said it had carried out a “radical review” of its Water Recycling team since the incidents, including changes to leadership, culture, data intelligence, systems and processes. It also said additional resources and asset monitoring had been introduced.
Anglian Water reported an operating profit of £636.3m in 2026 and said it planned to invest £11bn in infrastructure between 2025 and 2030 to improve performance and environmental outcomes.