Following an investigation Ofwat opened in January 2026 into Albion Water about potential failures to meet regulatory requirements, the regulator has now announced it now proposes to accept undertakings from the utility which will secure the company’s compliance – and in lieu of the financial penalty of £97,150 Ofwat would otherwise impose.

In June 2026 Ofwat shared a confidential minded-to document with Albion Water as part of its informal ‘minded to’ process.

The minded-to document identified that Albion Water has breached:

• Regulation 4(4) the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994 (UWWTR) by failing to ensure that waste water treatment plants are designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to ensure sufficient performance under all normal local climatic conditions.
• Regulation 5 UWWTR by failing to provide secondary or equivalent treatment of wastewater in respect of all discharges to freshwaters and estuaries from agglomerations with a population equivalent of at least 2,000 and in any event to provide appropriate treatment for all discharges
• Section 94 Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA91) by systemically breaching its UWWTR duties and failing effectually to provide drainage and deal with the contents of its sewers.
• Condition P10 of its licence, by failing to ensure that, as a company, it acts in a manner best calculated to ensure that it has adequate financial and management resources and systems of planning and internal control to carry out its Regulated Activities.

In response, Albion Water put forward proposed undertakings under section 19 WIA91, setting out details of the steps it will take to address the non-compliance identified by Ofwat and to secure future compliance. The undertakings also set out details of a proposed redress measure valued at least £97,150 to recognise the failures the investigation found. This will be entirely funded by the company and/or its shareholders rather than customers.

The regulator is satisfied that the undertakings will secure the company’s compliance, and Ofwat is proposing to accept them. Ofwat says the redress measure in lieu of the financial penalty will deliver a better outcome for customers and the environment by establishing a rainwater harvesting scheme with a local community institution that will reduce local mains water use by enabling use of recycled water and raise awareness locally regarding the issue of water scarcity.

Outlining the background to the investigation in the document setting out its proposal to issue an enforcement order, Ofwat says it is satisfied that, from the time that the company took over Northfleet Eastern Quarry Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) in November 2020, Albion Water has contravened Regulations 4 and 5 UWWTR by failing to ensure that the WWTW and collecting systems are designed, constructed, operated and maintained adequately according to the standards and requirements set out in the regulations.

In its response in July 2026 to Ofwat’s 'minded to' document outlining the preliminary findings of the investigation, Albion Water emphasised that Wessex Water was the owner of Albion Water prior to March 2022 and Alpheus Environmental carried out the day-to-day operation of Northfleet Eastern Quarry WWTW until January 2023.

Ofwat notes in the enforcement order proposal document that Albion Water was the wastewater undertaker for the Castle Hill site and held the environmental discharge permit for Northfleet Eastern Quarry WWTW from November 2020 onwards.

The document states:

“The magnitude of these contraventions has been significant relative to the size of the WWTW asset base and collecting systems that Albion Water operates and has persisted over an extended period. We are therefore satisfied that these breaches of the UWWTR also indicate a systemic failure by the company to make appropriate provision for effectually providing draining and dealing with the contents of sewers and, therefore, constitutes a breach of section 94 WIA91.

“We are also satisfied that, from at least November 2020, Albion Water has contravened Condition P10 of its Licence by failing to ensure that it had adequate financial and management resources and systems of planning and internal control in place to carry out its regulated activities, in particular: to manage and operate its WWTW to ensure compliance with UWWTR and section 94 WIA91 and meet its various reporting obligations in a timely and accurate manner.

“The undertakings would be enforceable by us under section 18 WIA91 and we would monitor Albion Water’s delivery of them.”

The water sector regulator is now inviting interested parties to comment on its proposed decision by 5pm on 20 October 2026.

Representations or objections can be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or by post to: Enforcement, Ofwat, Centre City Tower, 7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA.

Ofwat says it will take representations received into account before making a final decision.

Click here to download Ofwat’s proposal document Notice of Ofwat's proposal to issue an enforcement order on Albion Water Limited