Company prosecuted for spilling sewage into the ocean stumps up £31.5 million to improve water quality

Fishing boat Worthing beach with Worthing pier.

A COMPANY prosecuted for spilling 40 million litres of raw sewage into the sea is offering up £31.5 million to boost bathing water quality on beaches.

Southern Water has announced Brighton beach east of the Palace Pier, Worthing, Middleton, near Bogor, Bognor and Selsey could all receive a water quality boost with the slice of the investment.

The Bathing Water Enhancement Programme will see the more than £30 million budget spread across Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Last year the company was found guilty of breaching the requirements of environmental permits after spilling 40 million litres of raw sewage into the sea off Worthing on September 1, 2012 for which they were fined £160,000.

The Argus also exclusively revealed Southern Water had more serious incidents in 2014 than any other water company in England, but the company assured it has made "strong improvements”.

Southern Water say the programme will cost their customers approximately £2 over the next five years.

Rachel Wyatt, the Marine Conservation Society's water quality programme manager, said: "We welcome Southern Water’s plans to do more to improve bathing waters in its region and increase the amount of beaches with excellent quality. "

Seven of the 21 shortlisted beaches will be picked to be brought up to excellent water quality status by March 2020 following investigations by the firm this year.

David Tyler, Southern Water's environment strategy manager, said: “In order to tackle the numerous sources of pollution, we will take the lead on working with local authorities, landowners and others to find and fix the problems.

“We have invested millions of pounds over recent years to upgrade our wastewater network and improve coastal water quality.

"However, bathing water is also affected by many other sources of pollution which are outside of water companies’ control.

“These can include contaminated rainwater running off roads and agricultural land into the sea and watercourses, wastewater from privately-owned treatment works, boats and animals on the beach such as dogs and seabirds.

“We will now work to understand the causes of pollution at each of the 21 bathing waters shortlisted and identify which of them, and the communities they serve, would benefit the most from intervention.”

Article Source: The Argus