South West Water is set to begin work on a major programme of improvements in North Devon to reduce storm overflow spills into the Taw Torridge Estuary and help to protect water quality.
The Taw Torridge Estuary is home to some of North Devon’s most popular beaches and bathing waters, and plays an important role in supporting local communities, tourism and wildlife. As weather patterns become more unpredictable and communities grow, wastewater networks face increasing pressure to keep up with demand.
Making improvements across the estuary
Work will begin at different locations around the estuary over the coming months to help reduce storm overflow spills and improve water quality, including:
This autumn, a new pumping station will be built at Westward Ho! to help move more wastewater through the network and on to treatment. A new sewer pipe will also be installed to connect the pumping station to the treatment works.
In November, work will begin at Northam to create a new storage tank that can hold extra wastewater during heavy rainfall. This will help reduce storm overflow spills when the network is under pressure.
From late 2026, a large storage tank will be built at Velator, Braunton. The tank will hold up to 750,000 litres of wastewater during rainfall, providing extra capacity and helping to protect local rivers and coastal waters. The flows will then be returned to the network for treatment when capacity allows.
The improvements are expected to be completed by summer 2027 and will help improve water quality, reduce storm overflow use and make the wastewater network more resilient for the future.
James Pearce, South West Water’s Programme Director for the Taw Torridge Estuary scheme, said:
“This project is a great example of how targeted investment will have a big impact on the Taw Torridge Estuary and North Devon’s coastal waters.
“The improvements we are making will not only help to reduce storm overflow spills but strengthen the resilience of the wastewater network and support water quality at popular local bathing water including Westward Ho! and Saunton Sands.
“As a business, we are spending hundreds of millions to improve our storm overflow performance and at a local level it will be so rewarding to see how this investment will have a really positive impact.”
South West Water is investing £760 million over the next four years to reduce storm overflow spills across the region. The company says it is aiming to be the first in the water industry to reach fewer than 10 spills per overflow, per year by 2040 - a decade ahead of the Government’s deadline.
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