'South West Water's environmental performance remains disappointing'

South West Water remains the worst performing company for pollution incidents - according to the Environment Agency

They've just given the firm - which recently increased payouts to investors - a two-star rating in the report, which shows more pollution incidents in 2023 than the year before.

It found: "South West Water has been rated a 2 star company which means it requires improvement. For the thirteenth year it scored red for total pollution incidents with 194 pollution incidents in total (111 incidents per 10,000km of sewer) compared to 108 pollution incidents (62 incidents per 10,000km of sewer) in 2022.

"It also performed significantly below target for discharge permit compliance with 12 failing sites, the worst of all the companies."

Clarissa Newell, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency’s Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly area, said:  “South West Water’s environmental performance last year was really disappointing and has affected the performance of the sector as a whole. 

“Consistently poor performance is not tolerated, we’ve ensured the company has plans in place to reduce pollution and improve permit compliance and we’re stepping up our regulatory scrutiny this year. 

“South West Water was fined over £2m last year.  With an increase in dedicated staff to regulate water companies and a quadrupling of site inspections, companies failing to comply with the law will be penalised.”   

This morning South West Water has been responding to problems in parts of Cornwall as a result of a burst drain. It recently lifted a boil notice for customers around the Brixham area after an outbreak of cryptosporidium in the local water supply.

A spokesperson for the water firm said: "Delivering improvements in our environmental performance remains our top priority.

“Our 2023 EPA performance maintains many of the important improvements we delivered last year, including no serious Category 1 pollutions.

“Nevertheless, we recognise that further improvement is required. We have always been clear: one pollution is one too many. We continue to be open and transparent and have met our target for self-reporting pollution incidents with our highest ever performance.

“With a rapidly changing climate and evolving weather patterns, it is essential that we continue to make the investments needed to deliver long-term resilience, affordability and environmental protection. With PR24, we will deliver a doubling in investment over the next five years to reduce the use of storm overflows and pollution incidents.

“We continue to take action on a broad range of environmental issues that matter most to our customers, including on areas that are not included in the EPA assessment, such as storm overflows and coastal bathing water quality.”

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