A progress report on work by South West Water to reduce sewage spills and discharges in Sidmouth has been welcomed by the town council.

South West Water has admitted that its sewer system in Sidmouth is struggling to cope at times, leading to spills and storm overflow discharges into the River Sid and the sea.

A four-point scheme costing nearly £10 million is under way and has to be completed by the end of March 2028, under a Government-imposed deadline.

Part of this work will involve building a new storm storage tank at The Ham. Construction is due to take place between September 2024 and February 2025, and this will mean the 2024 Carnival Fun Fair and 2025 Sea Fest will have to be relocated. However, the work is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2025 Folk Festival.

The new tank is a key part of the scheme to reduce sewage spills; the increase in rainfall, caused by climate change, is overwhelming the sewers, meaning the storm tanks fill up and start overflowing before the pumps can reduce the volume of water in them.

Another part of the programme is reducing the amount of ground water entering the sewers. This involves lining, repairing and replacing manhole covers in the worst-affected areas – this work began earlier this year and starts its second phase this month.

South West Water is also identifying areas where separate sewers can be built for foul water and surface water. Surface water doesn’t need much treatment before being released back into rivers, so sending it to the treatment works with the foul water is wasting energy and money, as well as overloading the sewers, pump station and storm tanks. There is no date yet for the start of this work which is still in the design and development stage.

Work began in March on the fourth element of the sewerage improvement scheme – the storm overflows. These outlets allow sewers to discharge into rivers and the sea when they are over capacity because of heavy rain, but South West Water has been criticised for discharging sewage at other times. The company says it will be ‘reducing its reliance’ on these outlets in Sidmouth through better monitor,ing checking and maintainance of the overflows. Design work on these modifications began in March.

The town council received a progress report from SWW earlier this month, and leader Cllr Chris Lockyear said they will continue to keep meeting the company ‘to ensure the system is updated and meets the standards we all expect’.