United Utilities has pleaded guilty to providing water that was unfit for human consumption.
The charge was brought by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) under the Water Industry Act 1991.
Two further charges – failing to disinfect water used for domestic purposes, and failing to design and continuously operate an adequate treatment process – were dropped.
According to reports in the local media, prosecuting, Richard Bannell said: “This is in effect the first hearing of the case. I’m glad to say that time has enabled matters to be progressed. This case raises out of 700,000 consumers in north Lancashire. We are dealing with the impact on consumers that followed from that event.”
A spokesperson for the company said it has taken a “full and open role” with the DWI during its investigation, and “complied with all its requests for information”. “A full programme of remedial and repair work has already been implemented to safeguard future supplies,” it added.
The company will not make any further comment until after sentencing, which will take place on 21 August at Preston Crown Court.
On 6 August 2015, United Utilities began advising customers in Preston, South Ribble, Chorley and the Fylde coast to boil their water for all drinking and eating purposes after traces of cryptosporidium were detected during routine tests at Franklaw water treatment works.
The company flushed through 2,500 miles of pipes and storage reservoirs to get rid of the cryptosporidium parasite, and deployed portable ultraviolet ray equipment kill off remaining traces.
The incident, which lasted 30 days, cost the company about £25 million in compensation pay-outs to more than 300,000 customers.
There was widespread speculation in the media that a dead pheasant caught in United Utilities’s pipe network was the source of the outbreak. However, this has not been officially recognised by DWI.
United Utilities received a summons from the DWI on 16 June, with a full court case due be heard on 30 June. However, the case was delayed to today (19 July).