Southern Water unveils £1.5bn plan to root out storm overflows

Southern Water has unveiled proposals, for a £1.5bn investment between 2025-2035, “to get to the root cause of storm overflows” across its region.

Southern has pledged its Clean Rivers and Seas Plan will address the 50% of its storm overflow that fall short of government targets for frequency of releases into water courses. It said “by 2035, 75% of our high-priority overflows will be meeting government targets, reducing spills by an average of 8,000 a year, and by 2050 100% will meet these targets.”

The first phase of the plan will start in 2025 with £700m going into areas such as shellfish and bathing waters, and environmentally sensitive sites to reduce spills by 3,000 a year by 2030.

According to Southern the plan will slow the volume of rainwater going into the combined sewer, through infrastructure improvements including rain gardens, wetlands, tree planting schemes and installing water butts in densely urbanised areas.

The company is polling its customers on its Clean Rivers and Seas Plan on “how we are prioritising overflows in our region before we agree it with Ofwat, our regulator.”

Chief executive of Southern Water, Lawrence Gosden, said: “Collaboration is key, and we cannot achieve the results needed alone. That is why we are calling on our customers and local authorities to work with us and adopt solutions like water butts or sustainable drainage systems, to channel rainwater safely and slowly back into the environment.”