A COMPANY IN HOT WATER (SPRING 2026)

 



Otter Head, Budleigh Salterton Photo by Tony in Devon; Wikipedia 

It’s an iconic scene which draws thousands of visitors each year to a beach that Sir Walter Raleigh and Roger Conant would still recognise. But a talk in Budleigh Salterton’s Peter Hall on 25 March will highlight the problems which blight the river flowing onto that same beach.  

South West Water is the water and wastewater service provider for around 1.8 million customers. It has been rated ‘red’ for its environmental performance for the 14th year in a row by the UK’s Environment Agency. In July last year, its CEO Susan Davy announced her retirement. 

 In February 2026 the company claimed to have reduced spills by 17% in the last twelve months, and stated that spill duration was down by 25%. However local campaigners continue to make counter-claims. ‘South West Water dumped untreated sewage into the River Otter over 6,000 times in 2025 alone,’ alleged Otter Valley Association member Peter Williams. ‘And high phosphate levels in treated sewage clog the river with algae, with severe consequences for plant, wildlife and fish populations. They really do treat our river as a free component of their commercial sewage system!’ 

 South West Water is just one of several UK-based water companies which are experiencing problems and infuriating their customers. On 6 January this year, David Hinton, the chief executive of South East Water, was ques tioned by MPs. He blamed ‘continued growth in housing forever,’ which has pushed water demand extremely close to the company's ability to supply. 


 

Budleigh’s Lime Kiln car park at Otter Head on 1 December 2025. Image: Facebook 

South West Water’s problems at a waste water pumping station were underlined at the end of 2025 when convoys of tankers like these rumbled through Budleigh Salterton over a period of weeks.    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FROM EAST BUDLEIGH TO EASTERN UKRAINE, AND BACK (SPRING 2026)

Image
East Budleigh High Street from the tower of All Saints Church, and the consequences of a Russian missile attack on Dnipro on 14 January 2023. Image: Wikipedia   What makes an ex-Royal Marines officer choose to leave peaceful retire ment in a Devon village and join convoys delivering aid from Britain to an embattled country fighting for its survival? Andrew Canning OBE writes below about his most recent experience, which highlights the extreme situation of the people of Ukraine, and the small but significant part that he and his colleagues, and the people of East Budleigh, have played in helping them.   I am SO grateful to the many folk from East Budleigh and elsewhere that have donated either cash or material goods to the cause for which I volunteer in collecting and delivering much needed aid to Ukraine. The Ukraine Freedom Company (UFC) is a not-for-profit company, not a charity, that was estab lished shortly after Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. The founder, ...
Read more

HOW DID THE CONANT COURIER START? BEVERLY MA JOURNALIST PAUL LEIGHTON EXPLAINS. (WINTER 2025)

Image
The front page of the first issue of The Conant Courier (Autumn 2025) When I heard there was a new newsletter having something to do with Beverly, I got a little nervous. Could this be competition for The Beverly Beat?  Then I found out the newsletter was from across the pond — and I’m not talking Kelleher’s. The new publication is called The Conant Courier, and it’s based in Devon, England, the birthplace of Roger Conant.  Roger Conant is the answer to the first question any self-respecting Beverly trivia contestant should be able to answer — Who was the founder of Beverly? READ MORE AT  https://thebeverlybeat.substack.com/p/roger-that
Read more

THREE CHEERS FOR UNTIDINESS! (AUTUMN 2025)

Image
 ‘Wow!’ exclaimed our 12-year-old grand-daughter Lucy as she saw the shambles of more than 80 years of clutter hidden in our garage. She settled down to explore. We both agreed that every family home should have something similar—a museum of untidily stacked curios and unfamiliar objects to surprise and delight visitors, especially children. Lucy’s reaction reminded me of how, as a child, the sister of a well known composer described her feelings as she explored the ‘rambling and dilapidated’ property at 31 Station Road in Budleigh Salterton. Budleigh artist Joyce Dennys had suggested that the family move to the town at the outbreak of World War Two, and then seek a permanent home away from the London bombs. ‘The house was thrilling!’ the sister recalled in Anthony Meredith’s biography of her famous brother, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.  ‘I used to sneak about, taking everything in, and I went up to the attic once and it was full of assegais, masks and marvellous red-leather vo...
Read more