Overview
- Regulators found dark particles in the River Test and traced a polluted plume back to Southern Water’s Fullerton wastewater works, which officers linked to a discharge on 13 March 2023.
- Southern Water pleaded guilty to two breaches of its environmental permit at Medway Magistrates’ Court on 14 July 2026 and faces sentencing at a later date.
- Inspectors documented specific operational failures at Fullerton: only one of four sludge tanks was working, one tank had awaited repair for over a year, and pumps feeding sand filter beds had logged faults.
- Tests showed suspended solids were more than three times the permitted level and iron concentrations were far above limits, turning the water reddish and threatening the River Test’s fragile ecosystem and its genetically unique salmon.
- The Environment Agency said water quality improved after it intervened and has since inspected 10,000 water-company assets this year, checked over 730 Southern Water sites, issued more than 400 improvement actions, and is maintaining tight enforcement and follow-up of required fixes.