Ofwat chief executive Rachel Fletcher said:"The package we are unveiling today signals a brighter future for customers, with better services, a healthier natural environment and lower bills.
Unveiling its 2019 price review, which includes a "major" package of investment,
Ofwat sees water companies investing GBP6 million a day over the next five years, which will help cut bills for customers by around GBP50 a year.
Thames, Anglian and Yorkshire "have asked us to allow them significantly more money than they currently spend on base or ongoing expenditure" for wholesale or wastewater,
Ofwat said.
Ofwat said Southern "failed to operate a number of wastewater treatments works properly, including by not making the necessary investment which led to equipment failures and wastewater into the environment".
Ofwat said its large-scale investigation found that Southern Water failed to operate a number of wastewater treatment works properly, including by not making the necessary investment, which led to equipment failures and spills of wastewater into the environment.
What found this shocking
Ofwat Executive Rachel The PS126million package of penalties include Southern paying PS123million of rebates to customers through their bills, averaging PS61 over the next five years.
The reduction is set to come in the wake of
Ofwat, announcing its draft decisions on Severn Trent's business plan.
Further details on
Ofwat's price review can be foundhere.
However,
Ofwat has asked the company to go back to its plans in six areas, including efficiency, long-term resilience and outcomes for customers.
Ofwat published its new methodology for the forthcoming 2019 price control review (PR19) on 13 December 2017.
Under the plans, which set limits on the prices that customers in England and Wales will pay for water between 2020 and 2025,
Ofwat said it is proposing to set the so-called cost of capital that has a direct bearing on bills at a record low of 2.4%.