Thames Water has revealed details of four court cases in which companies and individuals were fined for illegally tapping into supplies across London and the Thames Valley.
Kilgannon Street Care and Go Plant Fleet Services, both street cleaning companies, pleaded guilty to multiple offences of using unauthorised and unlicensed standpipes to take water from street connections.
Kilgannon, based in Deptford, pleaded guilty to seven offences under the Water Industry Act 1991 at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court.
It was ordered to pay £9,000, which includes a £5,950 fine and £3,000 costs.
Go Plant Fleet Services, based in Leicester, admitted five offences under the Water Industry Act 1991 at Reading Magistrates’ Court on February 21.
The company was ordered to pay £8,500, which included a £3,300 fine and £5,145 costs as well as a victim surcharge.
Steve Johnston, an investigator for Thames Water, said: “It was very disappointing to have to go to court again but we hope this sends out a powerful message.
“We work around the clock to cut leakage and ask our customers to use water wisely, so it is not fair for others to take water without paying.
“We will always look to work with companies before going to court but if lessons are not learnt then we have no hesitation about taking further action.”
Further water theft offences took place last year.
In May, Sebastian Thomas, of Spencers Croft, Harlow, was identified as being responsible for illegal supplies being installed to four new-build houses in the Waltham Forest area.
On December 7, Thomas admitted three offences under the Water Industry Act 1991 at Thames Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay over £1,000 in fines and costs.
Mawahedul Mowla Khan, of Dames Road, Stratford, was found to have illegally connected a water supply to four flats he was converting in Clinton Road, Stratford.
On December 20, the case was heard at Thames Magistrates’ Court in his absence and he was found guilty of two separate offences and fined the maximum of £1,000 each.
Khan was also ordered to pay than £7,000 in costs which include the amount it took to disconnect the property.
Thames, which says it is spending more than £1 million a day tackling leakage, claims it loses hundreds of thousands of litres due to individuals and companies illegally connecting into the network, with everything stolen classed as leakage.
In January last year, the company announced it had deployed a team of investigators, headed by a former Surrey Police detective, to investigate the theft of water.