South West Water-owner Pennon Group PLC (LSE:PNN, OTC:PEGRY) has set aside £16 million to address the cryptosporidium water quality incident that occurred in Brixham over the summer.
The funds are intended to cover enhanced customer compensation, the provision of bottled water over an eight-week period and a series of interventions aimed at resolving the issue.
Pennon was forced to apologise for the outbreak of diarrhoea in Brixham, which has affected at least 22 people.
Pennon chief executive Susan Davy said the company had “fallen significantly short”.
Some 16,000 houses were cut off from the mains while the problem was dealt with.
Pennon undertook several measures following the incident, including cleaning and flushing the water network 27 times, replacing sections of the 30-kilometre network and installing localised filters and ultra-violet treatment plants.
In a Thursday trading update, Pennon called it an “incredibly rare event” for the company.