South West Water have been fined £125,000 for polluting three different Devon rivers with sewage after a series of breakdowns at treatment plants.
The company allowed untreated sewage to spill out at the works at Black Torrington, near Bideford; George Nympton, near South Molton, and Holsworthy at different times in 2013.
They blamed some of the resultant pollution on farmers and one of the overflows on debris from tree felling blocking up the works.
South West Water admitted four offences of discharging waste outside Environment Agency permits at the three plants and were fined a total of £125,000 with £18,743.69 costs by Recorder Mr Paul Dunkels, QC, at Exeter Crown Court.
He said the fines took into account the difficulties the company faced in running an operation which includes 639 sewage treatment plants, 808 pumping stations, and 9,274 miles of sewers.
He said the company was trying to improve its environmental standards but had been negligent in failing to ensure the three plants operated properly on the occasions when the discharges occurred.
He said:"In my judgment a solution could and should have been found earlier to the blocking of the inlet pipe at Black Torrington.
"However, while it was negligent to have failed to resolve the problems earlier I do not think it can be properly characterised as reckless."
The sentences are important because they are among the first in the country to have been issued since new advice was issued by the Sentencing Guidelines Council for environmental offences, which came into force on July 1.
The Judge ruled that South West Water's record of 115 previous convictions was not an aggravating factor because of the scale and nature of the business they run.
During the two day case Environment Agency prosecutor Mr Christopher Badger, said the discharges happened at different times.
Five took place between July and December at the Torrington plant, resulting in discharges of sewage into the Black Torrington stream, which flows into the River Torridge.
Sewage was found to be leaking from the George Nympton plant during an EA inspection in July and a stretch of the River Mole was found to contain fungus which suggested the leak had been going on for some time.
The Holsworthy leaks were uncovered by regular monitoring and the cause has since been traced and fixed.
Mr Martin Meeke, defending, said no damage had been done to wildlife and the company has spent tens of thousands of pounds improving all the works to ensure there are no more problems.
He said one of the discharges at Black Torrington had been caused by workmen trimming a bank of Leylandii trees which had been planted 30 years ago to screen the sewage plant from nearby homes.
The pollution spotted in the River Mole did not necessarily come from the leak at the George Nympton plant because the river passes through agricultural land where animals are grazing and there may be some run-off.
He said two of the three plants rank as the smallest in their portfolio with Torrington handling waste from 300 people, George Nympton from 104 and Holworthy from just over 3,000.
