South Hams Water Summit aims to get to the bottom of sewage

South Hams District Council will "debate the topic of water" this month and will "put pressure on South West Water who, it is claimed, has not delivered the service that could reasonably be expected for many years".

A motion put forward for debate lists some of the failings of the water company including:

• Having one of the worst ratings in England - as reported by the Environment Agency’s Environmental Performance Assessment.
• A record fine in May this year of £2.1 million as a result of illegal discharges over four years.
• Supplying contaminated water to some homes in and around Brixham, causing a serious outbreak of cryptosporidium infections.

The SHDC motion, to be debated on 25 July, claims that South West Water is a poorly run company that has failed to balance the need to attract investment with providing a satisfactory service to its customers, leading to the need for OFWAT to approve a price rise.  

It calls for a number of measures including asking SWW to provide a detailed plan and timetable on how it intends to improve matters quickly.

Given that the cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham, Hillhead and Kingswear affected over 100 people with a potentially serious illness the motion calls on South West Water to provide a full explanation of why it initially failed to detect the presence of cryptosporidium in the water supply.

If the motion is approved, SHDC will organise a Water Summit and invite the CEO of SWW, Susan Davy to explain the cause of recent failures, provide detailed plans for remediation and answer questions. It is hoped that MPs, Councillors and Community Groups from the region will attend the Summit.

The motion has been put forward by Cllr John McKay and seconded by Cllr Lee Bonham of SHDC. It also has the support of Caroline Voaden MP, the newly elected MP for South Devon.

Caroline Voaden MP said: “I fully support the motion that my Liberal Democrat colleagues are bringing to SHDC. South West Water has been underperforming for too long and it’s time the protection of our environment and the security of our water supply was prioritised above shareholder dividend and executive bonuses. 

“Privatisation has clearly failed here. We need to know how SWW is going to address the serious challenges it faces and I welcome the idea of a water summit to air all the issues fully in public.“

Cllr Lee Bonham who is supporting the motion said that “we hope that the proposed Water Summit will give the CEO of SWW the opportunity to explain what has gone wrong and show that things are really being fixed. It’s Susan Davy’s chance to rebuild trust with the whole community. We all depend on our water.”