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Southern Water spending £170m on reducing overflows

Steve Humphrey
BBC News, Gosport
BBC A section of Peel Common wastewater treatment works. There is a short concrete wall in a square, containing brown looking water. In the distance are tankers, a car park and trees. There are triangular structures either end of the water with a metal wire linking them.BBC
The water firm is investing £170m to upgrade Peel Common wastewater treatment works

A water company fined for dumping raw sewage into the sea has said work was under way for a scheme to reduce storm overflows.

Southern Water was hit with a £90m fine, four years ago, after raw sewage was discharged across Hampshire, West Sussex and Kent.

It said it was now spending £170m on upgrades to reduce the volume of rain and groundwater flowing into the sewage system in Portsmouth, Gosport and Fareham.

The firm has said if it only had to treat wastewater, there would be no need for overflows into the sea during periods of wet weather.

Keith Herbert looks slightly off camera while giving an interview. He has short black hair and stubble. He is wearing protective clothing, a white helmet with a blue circular Southern Water logo, protective clear glasses, an orange high-vis jacket with a white shirt, purple tie and blue blazer underneath. The background is slightly blurred, but shows he is standing in front of Peel Common wastewater treatment works.
Keith Herbert said Southern Water needs to work to "win back the trust of customers"

During wet weather Peel Common wastewater treatment works cannot cope with the volume of water, which is why storm overflows containing untreated sewage end up in the sea, the firm explained.

Keith Herbert, of Southern Water, said: "I don't like it, we're in the 21st Century, we shouldn't do that.

"Storm overflows happen because of poor urban drainage - things like driveways, car parks, roads, roofs are contributing to the run-off into our system."

Mr Herbert said the firm needed to "win back the trust of our customers", as campaigners and politicians had been putting pressure on the firm to reduce untreated sewage outflows.

"I like to think projects like this will demonstrate to customers the bill increases they're seeing are going to be spent in the right areas," he said.

Bianca Carr is looking slightly off camera giving an interview. She is on a bridge, with a metal rail behind her and in the background is a harbour, with the sea and a collection of white boats seen in the distance. Bianca has blonde hair, which is tied back in a low bun and a shorter piece of hair frames her faces. She wears a sleeveless white tank top, which has a blue square Final Straw Foundation logo on it.
Bianca Carr, founder of the Final Straw Foundation, says she doesn't believe things are changing yet

The Final Straw Foundation was originally set up in Emsworth and highlights the impact of pollution on the environment.

Founder of the charity, Bianca Carr, said she was yet to be convinced change was happening.

"I feel like we've been burnt very hard by the company and I don't believe anything that's happening, I'm more of a I believe it when I see it person," she said.

In total, Southern Water is investing £1.5bn on its clean river and seas plan.

Mr Herbert added: "We're on the same page as our campaigners, we want the same thing.

"We want cleaner rivers and seas and we're going to work day and night to make sure that is the case."

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