John Halsall, Chief Operating Officer at South West Water has apologised to customers in Exmouth affected by operational issues the company has experienced in the area over the last few months.

The apology comes in a written statement published on the company’s website explaining what issues South West Water faced and the steps it is taking to ensure this does not happen again.

In the middle of December SW Water experienced the first in a series of bursts on part of its sewer between the Plumb Park housing estate and Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works.

“After investigation, it became clear that the burst occurred due to the condition of the pipe, which was unexpected because it was not known to have deteriorated and had only burst once in the previous 20 years,” the statement says.

John Halsall explained that due to the condition the pipe was found to be in, it was “quickly determined” that the only way the company could ensure resilience for the future would be to replace the entire section, which is roughly 500-metres long.

To address the initial burst, the utility installed a temporary overland pipe to bypass the damaged section. It then experienced three further bursts on other parts of this section of pipe, most recently on 13 February.

While tt was repairing or putting in sections of overland pipe to bypass the burst John Hlalsall said SW Water “had no choice” but to use tankers to take flows from Phear Park Pumping Station to Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works.

Now the completed overland pipe which runs from Plumb Park to Maer Lane is in place tankers are no longer being used. However, a small number have been kept in the area as a precaution.

John Hassall commented:

“We really appreciate that the tankering caused disruption for customers in the area and we are sincerely sorry for that. This was the least worst option available to us but we understand it was far from ideal.”

The statement says the water company has been in regular contact with the Environment Agency throughout the duration of the works, together with providing updates to the council, the local MP, local media and customers.

John Hassall continued:

“We know how much it means to everyone to get the information they want, when they want it. Different people are interested in different aspects of this repair and so it is very difficult to update everyone, all the time, but we are working as hard as we can to keep everyone informed and we know we can do better.”

Since 2008, replacement and relining work has been carried out to the other section of the main, which runs from the housing estate to Phear Park Pumping Station. This means that the entire main from Phear Park to Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works will have been upgraded when the repair is completed.

The replacement work will see an investment of around £2 million and is due to be completed by the end of this month.