SWW pledge better water and bathing with massive South West investment

Pennon, South West Water's parent company, has confirmed plans to deliver record levels of investment across the South West, Bristol, Bournemouth and Sutton and East Surrey over the next five years.

It says the £3.2bn investment will see further improvements across the main customer priorities – securing safe, clean drinking water, reducing the use of storm overflows across the regions’ bathing waters and protecting the environment, with investments in renewables.

Bills for customers are forecast to increase for water services by £4 per month, and for sewerage services by £5 per month, one of the lowest increases across the Sector.

At the same time, the Group is announcing a £200m support package to make sure those customers who need assistance, get the right help, to pay their water bill, as it extends its pledge to end water poverty to 2030.

Pennon says that confirmation of pricing by water industry watchdog Ofwat signals the green light for the massive investment.

Susan Davy, Pennon CEO said: "This is on top of the £1.2bn we’ve already invested in our assets recently. We’re serious about making a difference now and in the future - our customers rightly deserve to see real change which we are already delivering. At the same time, we’re here to support customers to use less water, save more money as we do more than ever to support anyone struggling to pay their bill."

The four Priorities are:

 Water Quality and Water Resilience: Investing in new treatment works, reservoirs, and addressing lead pipe issues to ensure clean and reliable water for all.

• Upgrading a third of water treatment works in Devon and Cornwall
• Reducing leakage on networks to less than 10  per cent and less than four per cent on customer properties
• Creating a water grid to ensure all our strategic reservoirs are connected
• Investing in large reservoirs, starting with Cheddar 2 in Bristol

Tackling Storm Overflows and Pollution: Pennon pledge to eliminate storm overflows at bathing and shellfish waters by 2030

• Tackle every bathing beach by 2030
• Building trust in bathing water quality with a commitment to a sampling a monitoring programme
• Taking a ’Green First’ principle for tackling storm overflows
• Reducing pollution levels

Delivering for Customers and Addressing Affordability: Despite doubling its investment program, Pennon say they are committed to keeping bills as low as possible and supporting people through the cost-of-living crisis.

• Extend its zero-water poverty pledge to 2030
• Ensure fair charging for all its customers
• Accelerate smart metering, helping household customers use five per cent ess water
• Introducing a £200M affordability package to support its customers

Reaching Net Zero and Enhancing Environmental Gains: Pennon says it is dedicated to achieving Net Zero by 2030, investing in climate-independent water sources, and strengthening its environmental efforts.

• Planting 300,000 trees to boost nature recovery, launching our 1,000 ponds initiative and a new £2m Nature Recovery Fund
• Recycling more waste and generating enough energy to power 20,000 homes
• Expand its award-winning Upstream Thinking catchment management programme to deliver 146,500 hectares by 2030