Anglian Water has been fined £1.6 million for repeated sewage pollution in the River Brain.
District judge Timothy King heard the company’s local mismanagement led to a general decline in water quality between April and June 2022.
In addition, Anglian Water was said to have ignored alarms telling them that poorly-treated sewage was being discharged into the river due to the faulty valve.
The resulting pollution stretched for nearly 14km along the river between Braintree and Witham.
The problem was picked up by Environment Agency (EA) monitors showing levels of toxic ammonia that were the highest recorded in the river over the previous ten years.
An EA investigation traced the source to Anglian Water’s water recycling centre in Braintree.
A faulty valve, broken for a week before the first incident in April 2022, led to a semi-solid sludge being released into the river.
Further discharges in late May led investigators to track the poisonous substance as it continued down the waterway.
In response to the fine, Anglian Water said: “We acknowledge our procedures fell well below the high standard we set for ourselves and that this led to unacceptably high ammonia levels leaving our Braintree Water Recycling Centre on two occasions in 2022.
“We care deeply about any impact we have on the environment and apologise for the effect we had on the River Brain.”
Anglian Water was classified as a two-star-performing company in the last environmental performance assessment carried out by the Environment Agency.
Water companies in England have been prosecuted by the Environment Agency more than 70 times since 2015, leading to £169 million in fines.
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