England water was fined £1.42 million for contaminating water supply.

Companies covering East England received fines at Crown Court, Northampton after filing lawsuits over failures affecting 1.3 million people in lawsuits by the Drinking Water Inspection Agency (DWI).

A survey found that between June 2021 and December 1211, the company used unauthorized materials in drinking water tanks used on its network.

Anglian discovered that it has immersed it in the outer casing pipe inside the tank using unauthorized plastic products. The paints later collapsed into thin sheets and powders, entering the water supply.

Anglian reported the DWI's failure and pleaded guilty in court.

Thousands of people in Devon became uncomfortable last year after the discovery of Cryptosporidium parasites in water supply. Southwest Water warns about 16,000 households should not drink water without boiling until the problem is resolved. Schools and businesses are temporarily closed, and some families have to boil tap water for a month to eliminate pollutants.

"We have taken firm action for the public good to ensure that the company has removed all non-compliant materials so customers can maintain confidence in their water supply," said Marcus Rink, chief inspector at DWI.

"Contamination of drinking water on any scale is a scandal and a complete disgrace," said Environmental Secretary Steve Reed.

"The record £1.4 million fine sent a clear signal that such criminal acts are unacceptable."

All issues noticed throughout the Anglian network have now been corrected. The investigation highlighted further problems at the company’s management, including lack of employee training, poor oversight of supply chains and in some cases, water tanks were still used even after the company knew they included unauthorized products.

Under Section 31 of the Water Supply Ordinance 2016, the company pleaded guilty to five crimes.

An England spokesman said: “We apologize for the violation of Ordinance 31 and have accepted the verdict of five locations in 2021. The procedures we have adopted are insufficient and therefore, we have invested greatly to improve these relics and share our learning throughout the aquaculture industry.

“Protecting customers’ water supply cannot be more fundamental to our business, which is reflected in the fact that we have not prosecuted drinking water for more than 20 years. Despite the violation, there is no evidence of any contamination of the water supply, and the judge agreed to the low risk to customers based on independent expert reports, which is a very low view of the times.”

The Guardian recently revealed that the safety of tap water in the UK could be compromised as there are no approved treatment facilities to test the materials used to clean water.

Thames Water CEO Chris Weston said at a House of Commons committee hearing on Tuesday that the company’s desalination plant was pending because there were no testing facilities in the UK to test new membranes.