South West Water shows us around £12 million project - as water bills rise and we ask how the extra money is being spent
Campaigners in Sidmouth say the investment is welcome, but was needed much sooner
Last updated 3 hours ago
On what's being dubbed "Awful April" and with water bills amongst the bill increases, today we’re asking how South West Water is spending the extra money.
The firm's given us access to the first phase of an ongoing £12 project in Sidmouth which aims to reduce the use of storm overflows.
A detailed outline of the Sidmouth scheme can be found herewhich saw work begin in December 2025 to install 100,000 litres of water storage to reduce storm overflow spills from The Ham Pumping Station and safeguard water quality at the “Excellent” rated Sidmouth Town Beach. The Ham remains closed for recreational use until around June 2026 when phase one is due to end - in time for the town's famous folk festival.
Last year South West Water spilled more sewage on dry days than any other water company and this week The Environment Agency told the firm 250 'actions' were required, after 860 inspections.
The report found ‘screens to prevent solid waste entering water were missing, broken or blocked. Chopped sewage was at risk of flowing into water during storms. Leaking pipes, cracked tanks, seeping liquids discovered. Emergency pumps and generators were missing. Monitoring equipment was faulty and general maintenance poor in places, resulting in blocked channels, overgrown vegetation and sludge'.
Rich Allen is a Sidmouth-based campaigner who has joined the first-of-its kind legal challenge against pollution spills by South West Water - saying the impacts of pollution are reducing how many people will use the water in Sidmouth.
The case which started with businesses and swimmers in Exmouth has now been extended to include other towns such as Sidmouth and Dawlish.
Mr Allen said he joined the challenge over concerns about pollution in the water in Sidmouth and Exmouth, but added: "We're all really happy that there will be an increase in the size of the tanks that hold the overflow sewage as it were - so yeah, that's great news.
"I think the jury is still out as to how much that will completely eradicate or how much it will just reduce it at times.
"We do welcome the fact that South West Water is putting money into this issue here."
Mr Allen said it was frustrating that work was not started sooner, adding: "I've been a member of Surfers Against Sewage since I was 18 so that's over 30 years of battling against this issue.
"There have been improvements, in the 2000s we had a UV plant opened in Sidmouth which does mean that most of the time - or a lot of the time when we don't have heavy rainfall or significant rainfall that the water is nice to swim in and we enjoy swimming in it a lot.
"It's just the impacts on say our children and the environment of pollution - it's just not nice and something should have been done a lot sooner."
Today, on April Fool's Day, Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage staged a demo outside South West Water's Exeter headquarters - dressed in pretend 'mafioso' clothing - to highlight the increase in bills and call for a root and branch overhaul of the UK water sector
The Environment Agency says inspectors have been checking sites intensively over the past two years, adding: "The goal of the checks is to prevent pollution by making sure water companies are operating as they should and within their permits. If inspections find they aren’t, then the water company is set strict actions to bring them back into compliance."
It says 'the team responsible for inspecting South West Water assets, like sewage treatment works and storm tanks, increased its number of inspections by 125% from last year'.
Helen Wakeham, Environment Agency’s Director for Water said: “In our role as regulators of the water industry, we are changing how we operate - with better data, our largest ever enforcement workforce and greater powers to do our job effectively.
“Inspections are a vital preventative measure, with our teams nationally issuing over 3,000 actions to water companies, including repairing sewage works and upgrading their infrastructure.
“Together, this will drive meaningful improvements in performance, hold persistent offenders to account and ultimately create a cleaner water environment.”
Richard Price, Managing Director of South West Water's Wastewater Services, said: “We have positively engaged with the Environment Agency this year to support each and every visit from our local officers, with 3 in 4 sites being recognised as fully compliant and no major or serious issues being raised across all sites visited. All other improvement actions are being tracked and fixed.”
A Times report last month revealed that out of nearly 15,000 unlawful dry-day sewage spills last year, South West Water was responsible for more than 4,300 discharges - the most serious offender in England and Wales. A spokesperson for the water firm responded by saying: "We are clear that storm overflows must only be used when absolutely necessary.
"Our customers want to see immediate action to reduce the use of storm overflows and this is our absolute priority - we have a record, multi-billion pound investment programme in place and while change on this scale takes time, we are already seeing results and we have committed to complete this work a decade ahead of Government targets.”
The company added that it aims to be the first in the sector to meet the government’s target of fewer than 10 spills per overflow per year by 2040 - a decade ahead of schedule.
A list of South West Water's environmental plans and 'WaterFit' map can be found here