Part of the function of a water and sewerage undertaker is to collect and treat wastewater and return it to the environment. Without treatment the wastewater from domestic and residential premises, industrial wastewater discharges to sewers and rainwater contaminated with metals, oils and other pollutants from run-off in urban areas draining to sewers, would have significant adverse impacts on the water environment. Effective treatment also means treated wastewater can be returned to the environment to maintain river flows for conservation, fisheries and recreational interests.
Like all water and wastewater companies, our investment programme and operational practices are required to adhere to strict regulatory controls, as set out by the Environment Agency. To safeguard river, shellfish and bathing water quality we aim to ensure the wastewater we return to the environment is treated to the required standards. All our discharges are permitted by the Environment Agency and it is these permits that set out the required standards and levels of treatment required to protect the environment.
South West Water is the regulator for industrial wastewater discharges to the public sewer. The company conducts careful checks before permitting any release into the sewer, and monitors compliance with those consents. This is designed to protect both our processes and the environment from harm by ensuring levels discharged to the sewer are safe, treatable and do not harm the integrity of the sewer.
Objectives and Targets
Our objectives and targets for effluent management are driven by environmental compliance to ensure the treated wastewater returned to the environment (discharge) meets the environmental standards agreed with our regulator. Our target is 100% compliance.
Our effluent management compliance performance can be found within South West Water's Annual Performance Report.
Initiatives to reduce, reuse or recycle effluents
As part of our newly established Water Efficiency Programme, we are exploring opportunities to recycle effluent within our wastewater treatment processes to reduce the demand for potable water usage.
Investment in effluent management
Since 1989, we have improved over 305 stormwater overflows to bathing waters and 409 to shellfish waters, by adding more than 953,966 cubic metres of additional stormwater storage built at a cost of over £100million. We continue to present our storm information through WaterFit Live launched in March 2023 to cover all our bathing beaches, we are in the final stages of rolling this out across our rivers which will give live updates on all our storm overflows. By 2030, we will have tackled all storm overflows at our bathing beaches, shellfish waters and high-spilling sites given the importance of tourism to our region. We have also invested significantly to install event and duration monitors on our intermittent discharges. In addition, we have recently put forward Green Recovery acceleration plans to the Government and regulators, to increase monitoring of our network and improve management, performance and understanding of storm overflows through investigation and work to reduce storm overflows.
South West Water’s business plan (2020-2025) includes investment to improve its sewerage network and wastewater discharges to the environment, including coastal bathing waters. In addition, South West Water’s Green Recovery Initiative includes proposals to improve inland bathing water quality (i.e. rivers).