The company confirms it will not be paying into a £180m government fund to reduce sewage spills.
The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs announced the initiative on Monday, with water companies including Anglian, Severn Trent and Southern committing millions to try and prevent more than 8,000 sewage spills.
The government was disappointed by the firm's decision not to contribute to the fund, the BBC understands.Anglian Water is pledging £50m to the fund, Severn Trent £41m, United Utilities £39m, Southern £10m, and Wessex £8m. Other water companies, such as Northumbrian and Yorkshire, have already announced additional investments, Defra said.
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said the £180m investment would "mean more cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence, and more specialist staff to detect and reduce spills". In a statement, it said: "We take the reduction in pollutions extremely seriously and are keen to ensure we reduce these significantly but are not able to offer the further acceleration in investment that has been asked for at this stage."Seven of the best moments from the Oscars