Improvements to your water network

We are constantly improving and embracing new ideas, new ways of thinking and new technologies to find the best possible solutions to repair water pipes, track down leaks.

Our innovation initiatives

Our Water Resources Management Plan outlines the improvements we’ll make to keep providing you with some of the best drinking water in the world.

The plans for all 5 of our Water Resource Zones will make sure we look after both you and the environment. 

By 2050, we will have achieved:

50%
reduction in leaks*
100%
of metered customers on smart meters
110litres
consumption per person per day
173million litres
less water taken from rivers per day

*compared to 2017/18 levels.

Other work we’re doing is specific to each zone:

Sun set at Colliford Reservoir
Water resource zones
1/5

1 – Colliford

Up to 2030: Investment: c£106 million Litres saved: 2.15 million Additional water made available: 6.5 million Projects up to 2050:

  • Adding new supplies from existing quarry lakes at Leswidden (Penwith) and Hawk’s Tor (Bodmin Moor)
  • Installing a new water intake and treatment works on the River Fal
  • Reviewing abstraction licenses
  • Upgrading our Restormel Water Treatment Works

 

Drone image of Roadford reservoir
Water resource zones
2/5

2 – Roadford

Up to 2030: Investment: c£119 million Litres saved: 1.4 million Additional water made available: 5 million Projects up to 2050:

  • Upgrading storage capacity at 5 water treatment works
  • Adding additional pumping capacity to transfer water from rivers to reservoirs in winter (when more water is available)
  • Reviewing abstraction licenses

 

Picture of Wimbleball dam
Water resource zones
3/5

3 – Wimbleball

Up to 2030: Investment: c£50 million Litres saved: 2.22 million Additional water made available: 7.25 million Projects up to 2050:

  • Reopening 2 existing boreholes and installing a new one
  • Building a new water treatment works, and upgrading 2 others
  • Transferring treated wastewater from Sidmouth to replenish Otter Valley groundwater sources
  • Reviewing abstraction licenses

 

Picture of the River Stour in Bournemouth
Water resource zones
4/5

4 – Bournemouth

Up to 2030: Investment: c£29m Litres saved: 2.82m Additional water made available: 1m Projects up to 2050:

  • Investigating building a new reservoir (Cheddar 2) in partnership with Wessex Water and Bristol Water
  • Reopening an existing borehole and installing a new one
  • Transferring treated wastewater (managed by Wessex Water) from Christchurch to supplement the River Stour at times of low flow

 

Isles of Scilly landscape
Water resource zones
5/5

5 – Isles of Scilly

Up to 2030: Investment: c£1m Litres saved: We’re investing in closer monitoring and network research before this can be calculated reliably.

Additional water made available: No new sources of water on the islands, and we can't bring water in from elsewhere. 

Projects up to 2050:

  • Using new water treatment systems to supply more customers
  • Supplementing groundwater sources with more desalination

 

Water Resources Management Plan

Reviewed every year and rewritten every 5 years, this plan covers how we're managing the supply and demand of water in our 5 Water Resource Zones.

View our plan
Water Resources Management Plan image

Improvements to your wastewater network

Our Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan covers all the improvements we’re making to our wastewater network up to 2050. We’re determined to be a service you can rely on to protect the environment, handle wastewater responsibly and plan for future expansion.

We know there’s a lot to do, and we’re promising that by 2050 we will have achieved:

1,447hectares
surface water removed
550,000m3
of storage added
2,700km
sewers upgraded
123
treatment works upgraded

To do this, we’ve split the region into 22 catchments. Each area has a specific plan of improvements and upgrades that we’ll be working on. Some of the major projects include:

Picture of a storm tank
Some of the things we're doing
1/5

Increasing storm storage

At times of high rainfall the water flow into our treatment works currently hits levels well above capacity. So, by increasing storm storage capacity, we plan to reduce the number of times wastewater is discharged straight into water courses (rivers, sea etc) through storm overflows – down to 17.5 spills per year in any one location by 2030.

More about storm overflows
Picture of works to separate sewers
Some of the things we're doing
2/5

Separating combined sewers

To further help control the amount of wastewater ending up at our treatment works, we’re separating surface water (rainwater) from the foul sewerage. The surface water is released into watercourses with minimal treatment, freeing up the treatment works to more efficiently treat foul sewage from homes and businesses.
Picture of a storm. A wave can be seen crashing over a railway track
Some of the things we're doing
3/5

Upgrading our sites

In the next few years, we’ll be upgrading, improving, and even relocating some sites to protect them from rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and demand changes.
A few people standing and looking at a river
Some of the things we're doing
4/5

Proactive interventions

We’re collaborating with landowners on a wide range of land management solutions which will help keep our rivers healthy.
Nature-based solutions
Picture of ants farming
Some of the things we're doing
5/5

Creating green spaces for wildlife

We’re making our sites more wildlife friendly in our ground management techniques and protecting the wildlife like bats, birds and unique plants and insects that already live there.

Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan

Reviewed every year and re-written every 5 years, this plan cover how we're managing the transport, treatment and return of wastewater to the environment in our 22 catchments.

Read more
Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan image

Improving our Customer Services

From giving us invaluable insights at public meetings, to being our eyes and ears when it comes to leaks and pollutions, customers are at the heart of why we do what we do.

With that in mind, we’re going further for our customers.

WaterShare+
Putting our customers first
1/5

Our public meetings

Join us at our Customer Meeting with our WaterShare+ Advisory Panel where you can learn more about how we’re delivering on our promises, and ask questions and raise your concerns. The Panel will then raise your comments to the South West Water Leadership team.
Register to the next meeting
Customer AMG
Putting our customers first
2/5

Customer AGM

1 in 14 customers have now become shareholders in the company’s parent company Pennon thanks to our WaterShare+ initiative. Our annual Customer AGMs are for all Pennon shareholders to attend to feedback on the company’s performance.

South West Water education officer teaching in classroom
Putting our customers first
3/5

Community Engagement

Find us out and about all over the South West, teaching in schools, attending county fairs and providing help and advice at pop-up events.
Where we are today
Two people holding hands in support
Putting our customers first
4/5

Help and support

From practical help like having important information sent in different formats, and more frequent meter reads, to financial help including support with debt, we are constantly looking of ways to improve these services. We recently removed the benefit criteria for one of our most popular support tariffs, WaterCare.
Further help and support
Picture of someone in a workshop
Putting our customers first
5/5

Workshops

Whenever we make a change in the business, like updating the website, research into customer priorities for the business plans, or want to trial a new process, we run customer workshops. These are hugely informative events that have truly shaped where the business has placed itself within the industry.