A £1.2bn scheme to recycle effluent from the sewage system and turn it into drinking water has been described as a threat to the environment and a potential costly “white elephant”.
According to reports, Southern Water wants to treat effluent – wastewater from the sewage system – at a plant at Havant in Hampshire and pipe it into a nearby spring-fed reservoir to boost water supplies during droughts. The scheme would ensure that less water is extracted from two rare chalk streams: the rivers Test and Itchen.
This will be the first reservoir in the country to use recycled water derived from effluent to supplement its levels. But regulators say effluent recycling is used overseas, providing plentiful and safe supplies, but campaigners say there are more environmentally friendly options.
Southern Water has been fined tens of millions of pounds in recent years for polluting rivers and coastal waters in Kent, Sussex and Surrey with sewage. Last week, Ofwat, the regulator, announced a proposed annual bill-rise for Southern Water customers of 44%, or £183, by 2030.
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The company’s proposed Hampshire water recycling project would supply up to 90m litres of drinking water a day and would be operational by 2034. It will apply for a development consent order next year and says the scheme will keep “the taps and rivers” flowing.
Tracey Viney, an environmental specialist advising campaigners opposing the project, said: “This is not a sustainable solution. We get plenty of rainwater and should be developing schemes to store water for use in dry summers.” Bill Cutting, a former director of Southern Water in the 1990s, said he opposed the scheme. “The costs are horrendous,” he said. “It’s a good idea if you’re living in a country where there is no water, but you can’t say the UK has no water.”
The Havant Thicket reservoir is the first large-scale reservoir to be built in the UK for more than three decades and is a collaboration between Southern Water and Portsmouth Water. It won planning permission in 2021 and will hold about 8.7bn litres of water. Southern Water lost about 108.5m litres of water a day in 2022-23 through leaks, according to most recent figures. Campaigners say it should focus on reducing leakage.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
