Water firms behind worst pollution cases defy ban on bosses' bonuses - with one CEO awarded £270,000 despite supplier poisoning more than 500 customers with parasite-infected tap water

By PATRICK TOOHER, CONSULTANT CITY EDITOR Published: 23:26, 20 June 2026 | Updated: 23:27, 20 June 2026 Water firms behind some of the worst pollution incidents have resumed paying bonuses to bosses despite a ban on the practice. In the most extreme case, Pennon's chief executive saw her annual bonus of £270,000 reinstated after it was blocked when its South West Water unit poisoned more than 500 customers with parasite-infected tap water. It brings the total Susan Davy has earned while in charge at Pennon to £5.6million, higher than previously reported. This month, South West Water was fined £1.9million for letting cryptosporidium from animal faeces infect drinking water supplied to more than 16,000 homes in Brixham, Devon, in May 2024 when Ms Davy was still boss. Watchdog Ofwat initially banned any bonus to her and a £190,000 payment to Pennon finance director Laura Flowerdew. But the ban was reversed and the payouts were released 'following further guidance' from Ofwat, Pennon said in its annual report last week. The bonus prohibition came into force a year ago amid public anger over sewage dumping, coupled with soaring household water bills. It allows Ofwat to block performance-related awards to the most senior directors if their water firm is found guilty of the worst pollution incidents. Susan Davy, 56, was chief executive when South West Water's failure to inspect a reservoir valve for 13 years allowed cryptosporidium from animal faeces to infect the tap water of more than 16,000 homes But critics claim the curb is easily swerved and is limited to only a handful of bosses. For example, Pennon's Ms Flowerdew was not its finance director at the time of the Brixham bug outbreak and was therefore not covered by the ban. Last night clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey slammed the bonus ban as 'pantomime politics'. 'It's another example of the contempt with which bill payers are treated,' the former singer of punk band The Undertones added. Sharkey wants to bring water firms back into public control – a call echoed by Andy Burnham, the new MP for Makerfield who plans to oust Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. Most at risk is Thames Water, which is drowning amid debts of almost £20billion and faces going into a form of temporary nationalisation unless a rescue plan is agreed before it runs out of cash. The supplier to London and the Thames Valley was rebuked by MPs after revealing 21 bosses are in line for bonuses of up to £17.5million from an emergency loan. Ofwat was powerless to claw them back as they did not apply to board-level directors. It can also be revealed that James Jesic, Severn Trent's new boss, got a £225,000 bonus for just three months' work – even though predecessor Liv Garfield had hers stopped after two category 1 pollution incidents last year. Severn Trent said Mr Jesic was not on the board at the time so the ban did not apply. Recent testing on the River Trent found higher levels of e-coli than a sample taken from a pub toilet. James Jesic, Severn Trent's new boss, received a bonus of £225,000 for just three months' worth of work 'I wouldn't let my dog in there,' Karl Birkinshaw, chief operating officer at hygiene consultancy Envirocloud, which took the samples, told LBC. Meanwhile, the boss of United Utilities saw her pay soar last year despite the water supplier to seven million households in north-west England admitting it had missed some of its pollution targets. Louise Beardmore pocketed £2.5million, up 79 per cent on the previous year. Her annual bonus for the previous year was blocked by Ofwat after thousands of fish were killed in one of the firm's reservoirs during maintenance. United Utilities has also been attacked for illegally dumping raw sewage into Windermere, England's largest freshwater lake. Ofwat said its bonus ban had stopped almost £4million of payments to water bosses last year. 'We are reviewing companies' remuneration decisions and will not hesitate to take action where we find breaches of our rules,' a spokesman said. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.