Southern Water is investing £18 million in a major upgrade of its Wastewater Budds Farm Treatment Works – the investment is part of Southern Water’s drive to cut pollution incidents by 80 per cent over the next four years.

Last week the water company welcomed Havant Member of Parliament Alan Mak to its Budds Farm wastewater treatment facility in Langstone Harbour to view the progress of its upgrade.

Southern Water has also welcomed the passing of the Environment Bill which will ensure that the Government, regulator and water companies work together at pace on tackling the issue of pollution and storm overflows.

Ian McAulay, Southern Water’s CEO, said:

“I was pleased to welcome Alan to Budds Farm wastewater treatment works today to show him the progress we’re making to improve our wastewater treatment infrastructure. The south-east of England has a rapidly growing population, and we must ensure we can serve our customers and prepare for future growth by investing to ensure our assets are fit for future needs.

Budds Farm Wastewater Treatment Works serves nearly 410,000 people living in and around Portsmouth, Havant and the wider area and treats almost 109 million litres of wastewater per day.

Local contractors and businesses will be central to delivering the upgrade, with £12 million invested in storm tanks, pipework and infrastructure. This is part of Southern Water’s action to deliver for its customers by tackling pollution, storm overflows and ensuring the company is prepared for future growth.

Much of the planned investment will be spent in line with the water industry’s national environment programme (WINEP) on increasing site capacity at Budds Farm to ensure it can cope with anticipated future volumes due to increased rainfall, growing urbanisation and population and other pressures including from the agriculture sector.

Alan Mak, Member of Parliament for Havant in Hampshire, commented:

“I’ve been campaigning for Southern Water to reduce unacceptable stormwater discharges into our harbours so I welcome this new investment that will make a tangible difference. It follows the Government’s Environment Bill that I supported, which for the first time places a direct legal duty on water companies to reduce stormwater discharges. There is still much more to do to ensure that stormwater releases are eliminated, and I’ll continue my campaigning to protect our harbours.”

Southern Water said it is committed to protecting and improving water quality and natural habitats in the Langstone Harbour area. Earlier this year it hosted a multi-agency summit to coordinate a robust response to protecting water quality and conserving the precious natural habitats.

This week the utility was identified as the worst offender in Surfers Against Sewage annual Water Quality Report for 2021. Commenting in response, Southern Water said in a statement:

"Our new task force aims to cut storm overflows by 80 per cent by 2030. Our target is ambitious but all 83 of our bathing waters meet strict European standards and 78 are excellent or good, a challenge which 20 years ago seemed impossible.

"We also lead the industry in our openness and transparency. Every storm release is announced on our Beachbuoy app in near real time 365 days a year. All of our environmental data is published annually."

The company treats 748 million litres of wastewater a day at its 367 wastewater treatment works – its 39,500 km network has more than 3000 pumping stations.

Southern Water said the purported ‘discharge’ at Langstone Harbour is a permitted release and the visible drone evidence is silt stirred up by rain water which would otherwise back up the system and flood homes, schools and businesses.

The utility is currently working with SAS so its Beachbuoy data will automatically update their app.

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