Following South West Water’s continued failures in Exmouth, I met with South West Water’s Chief Operating Officer, John Halsall, and the Environment Agency’s Area Director for Devon, Mark Rice, in Exmouth yesterday to challenge the water company on their handling of the ongoing incident in the town.
I visited Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works – South West Water’s sewage treatment plant in Exmouth - and the site of a damaged pipe in a nearby field which burst on 30th December.
Following the burst, South West Water told me that tankers have been taking sewage from the damaged pipe so the impacted area is clear for its teams to carry out repair work. This has meant South West Water have been using tankers to transport sewage to a recently overflowing pumping station on Maer Road, which is unacceptable.
South West Water insisted that they initially had to tanker to Maer Road Pumping Station because of flooding on the route to Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works but since this route has become clear they have been tankering to Maer Lane.
This burst pipe is the third unacceptable incident in a month resulting from failures in South West Water’s infrastructure and a lack of investment. It follows a power outage at Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works earlier in December resulting in what the Environment Agency called “non-compliant spills,” and another burst pipe in Exmouth on 12th December 2023 which also required tankers to transport sewage.
South West Water previously indicated to customers that the use of tankers would stop on Wednesday 3rd January as they planned to complete the installation of a replacement temporary sewer pipe. However, the new pipe is still not yet in operation due as South West Water have confirmed yet another burst on the original pipe and say the challenging weather conditions in recent days have hindered progress. As a result, the tankers continue to disturb local residents day and night, which remains unsatisfactory and deeply concerning.
I challenged South West Water on when the temporary pipe would be operational and repeated my calls for substantial long-term investment into their local infrastructure. I am awaiting a further update, which I will share on here.
South West Water say a permanent solution will be in place within months which involves a new pipe being installed to replace the burst pipe. The company committed to upgrades of its Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works.
The Environment Agency confirmed their investigation has started with a full team planning to visit the site of the damaged pipe as a matter of urgency.
It is clear to everyone in East Devon that South West Water’s lack of investment in Exmouth has come back to bite them and they must pay dearly for what they’ve done.
During my meeting in Exmouth, I demanded that South West Water finally deliver on their word and complete the installation of the new temporary pipe as a priority, as well as providing a clear public timeframe for a permanent solution.
Despite South West Water’s failures, I want to thank their ground teams and contractors for their efforts in resolving the immediate issues. The abuse they have faced is completely unacceptable.
I am working with the Environment Agency, Ofwat and the Minister for Water as investigations continue into this sorry state of affairs. I also met with local residents and offered my support to them following the unacceptable impact South West Water’s terrible performance has had on their day-to-day lives.
East Devon residents in our beautiful coastal communities including Exmouth, Sidmouth, Seaton, Budleigh Salterton and Beer pay the highest sewerage bills in the country. They deserve better. I will not rest until South West Water cleans up their act and our water.