Cornwall secures £10 water saving credit, as desalination plans go two-phase

All household customers in Cornwall will receive a £10 credit on their next bill after the county collectively reduced its water consumption between the beginning of February and the 5 May.

South West Water launched a new incentive on 1 February, whereby £30 would be credited to each customer if a 10% reduction in water use was seen across Cornwall, or a £10 credit if demand reduced by 5% over the same period. The county hit the lower target.

The Cornwall incentive is part of South West Water’s Water is Precious campaign. This asks customers to use water more efficiently, with South West Water “playing its part” with a £125m investment to boost water resources in Cornwall by around 45% and in Devon by around 30%.

Part of this package is a new desalination plant in Par in Cornwall. The company last week announced the project would follow two phases. A small plant using existing infrastructure will be delivered this year, capable of producing 2.5-5 million litres of drinking water a day. The intention is to develop a larger plant, capable of producing 20m litres of drinking water a day, once there has been time to better understand the impact on the marine and natural environment in St Austell Bay.

David Harris, South West Water’s drought and resilience director, said: “We share the passion that many locals have shown to protect the sensitive marine environment in St Austell Bay. Taking more time to fully understand this environment will allow us to enhance our proposals and be sure that we are doing everything we can to minimise any impact we have to marine habitats.”