Criticism of recycled water plans for Havant Thicket reservoir
Borough councillors from all parties have expressed 'grave reservations'
Civic chiefs in Havant have hit out at Southern Water’s lack of openness over plans to put recycled sewage into a freshwater reservoir.
There is cross-party agreement at Havant Borough Council that the new Thicket Reservoir should not be filled with “purified recycled water” which will be mixed with water from chalk streams.
All parties have expressed “grave reservation” about the impact on the Havant district area over Southern Water’s plans to pump recycled wastewater into the reservoir, Havant Borough Council’s Labour leader Philip Munday said.
The original plan was to fill the Thicket Reservoir with water from Bedhampton’s chalk streams to ensure water security for the borough and the wider Southern region. This would help, water bosses said, during increased drought periods of hotter and drier summers. Primarily, the reservoir will be used to supply water to residents 40km away in Southampton.
The statement from Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green Party councillors in charge of the borough said while they recognise the need to plan for future water supplies, they “strongly oppose the Southern Water plan to recycle sewage effluent, on strong environmental and economic grounds”.
Reform UK and the Conservatives also oppose the plans.
“It is the only option being pushed at us and we would like them to consider alternatives,” said Havant and St. Faith’s ward Cllr Munday.
Cabinet lead for environment and water quality and climate change champion Councillor Grainne Rason said: “It is the only chalk stream reservoir in the whole world and now we are getting something very different.”
Cllr Munday said the lack of openness along with a lack of trust in Southern Water’s proposals and their lack of willingness to consider other alternatives are driving these concerns. He said: ”Is it the best solution?”
Cllr Rason, who represents Emsworth, said the process of reverse osmosis as a solution to treating the wastewater will be expensive, uses a lot of energy and creates toxic by-products ‘cake’ that need to be disposed of.
The parties said the minimum building cost was now estimated to be £1.2 billion, with the reservoir supplying 2.26 million customers.
Cllr Munday said he was not opposed to the reservoir but what it is filled with.
Cllr Munday said alternative things they would like Southern Water to look at first are stopping leaks, using the naturally placed chalk stream aquifers more effectively by directing stormwater into them for filtration and considering more efficient use of runoff water from fields.
Cllr Rason said the perspective of drinking recycled wastewater will force the public to opt for bottled water, as in Singapore with a huge environmental impact from plastic pollution from plastic bottles.
Portsmouth Water’s Havant Thicket Reservoir was approved for planning in 2021 and aims to be finished in 2029. Planners are now making decisions about the details of the wetlands element of the scheme; its siting, scale, external appearance and landscaping.
Havant Borough Council is a consultee and not a decisionmaker on this project to work out how to future-proof drinking water supply for the southern region.
A spokesman for Southern Water previously said: “More than 2.5 billion extra litres of water a day is needed in the South East by 2050 – we face water shortages in our region unless urgent action is taken.
“Reducing leaks and improving water efficiency will only get us so far. Large, new sources of water, such as reservoirs and water recycling, are needed to keep taps and rivers flowing.
“Water recycling has been used around the world successfully for more than 40 years, and we are one of several UK water companies planning for its introduction.”
Portsmouth Water chief executive Bob Taylor has said that the south-east is “water-stressed” and Southern Water has agreed to take less water from world-renowned chalk streams and the rivers Test and Itchen in Hampshire but it will leave the company short of nearly 200 million litres per day in periods of drought.
He said Portsmouth Water customers would only receive water from the reservoir in drought and emergency conditions, the remainder of the time, their water would come from our usual sources and it is important to be aware that Southern Water’s water recycling scheme is separate from the current, approved plans to fill Havant Thicket Reservoir with spring water.