Selaine Saxby MP backs largest plan in water company history to tackle sewage pollution on National Beach Day
Selaine Saxby, MP for North Devon, has welcomed the largest infrastructure programme in water company history to tackle sewage pollution. The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, published last week, will revolutionise how water companies tackle the number of discharges of untreated sewage, which the Government and public have made clear are completely unacceptable.
The Victorians introduced storm overflows as a safety valve for combined sewage systems. Now, under pressure from climate change and population growth, water companies use them far too often, threatening the environment and sea users.
However, it is important to note that here in North Devon there has already been substantial investment to improve water quality and this is in addition to the improvements already made that have seen
- For the first time this year, 100% of the classified bathing waters in the south west have passed Environment Agency stringent standards, with 98% rated as or ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’, compared to c.28% in 1991. These are the tighter standards introduced by Government under the 2006 EU directive, which came into effect in 2015.
- There has been significant investment in infrastructure and partnership work which has delivered these improvements across the region’s 860 miles of coastline. South West Water’s ‘Clean Sweep’ project created new infrastructure across the region. This, alongside sustained partnership work and continued investment, has significantly improved bathing waters across the region.
- Since 1989 South West Water has invested c£9bn in improving the region’s water and wastewater infrastructure and services, some funded from customer bills and some by investors.
- South West Water continues to invest in its wastewater network to improve monitoring and reduce storm overflows, as part of WaterFit its largest environmental programme in 15 years. This is a £330 million investment over the next three years into our region’s wastewater network.
- WaterFit will dramatically reduce the use of storm overflows, maintain our region’s excellent bathing water quality standards all year round and reduce and then remove South West Water’s impact on river water quality by 2030.
Selaine Saxby MP commented:
“Whilst warmly welcoming the new plan which will mean that water companies will face strict targets and must completely eliminate the harm any sewage discharge causes to the environment. I also urge residents, visitors and the media to be aware of the facts about our beautiful beaches here in North Devon. The current inaccurate use of sewage to score political points risks damaging our vital tourism industry.
More data is available than ever before due to the increased monitoring of storm overflows – however this does not detail what is discharged, which is very rarely raw sewage here in North Devon. I have complained to the BBC about their coverage over the weekend suggesting Croyde is not clean, when the data suggests its water quality will move as ranked “good” to “excellent” at the October review.
The data for Croyde shows a 65% reduction in events, and 70% reduction in duration on the relevant storm overflow in 2021 compared to 2020. Whilst I fully accept there is more to do, and that where storm overflows are used excessively steps must urgently be taken – it is also vital we note the successes there have been where water companies have been investing in improvements which is clearly visible in the Croyde data. It is irresponsible, scaremongering of major media channels and opposition parties to keep suggesting all beaches are covered in sewage – I will be the very first person to complain if any of ours are, and I have met regularly with South West Water since my election to ensure improvement work is ongoing.”
Environment Secretary George Eustice said:
“This is the first government to take action to end the environmental damage caused by sewage spills. We will require water companies to protect everyone who uses our water for recreation, and ensure storm overflows pose no threat to the environment.
Water companies will need to invest to stop unacceptable sewage spills so our rivers and coast lines can have greater protection than ever before.
The Government has been clear that companies cannot profit from environmental damage, and Selaine voted for measures in the Environment Act to give more powers to Ofwat, the water company regulator, to enforce that. Ofwat is now consulting on measures that would ensure that water companies are transparent about how executive pay and dividends align to the delivery of services to customers, including environmental performance.”
