{"id":466232,"date":"2026-03-09T16:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/466232\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:53:12","slug":"southern-water-and-thames-water-address-sewage-spills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/466232\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern Water and Thames Water address sewage spills"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n As previously reported, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council<\/a> leader Cllr Dr Paul Harvey and cabinet member for strategic planning and infrastructure Cllr Andy Konieczko wrote hard\u2011hitting letters to the chief executives of Thames Water, Southern Water<\/a>, and the Environment Agency calling for \u201cbinding\u201d action to protect the area\u2019s globally rare chalk streams.\n<\/p>\n

\n They say chronic under\u2011investment, rising housing targets, and years of storm overflow discharges mean the Loddon and Test are already under severe strain \u2013 and warn that the borough\u2019s next Local Plan cannot simply \u201cpile thousands more homes\u201d on top of failing infrastructure.\n<\/p>\n

\n Now, the water companies and the Environmental Agency have responded with Southern Water pointing the blame to extreme flooding, but insisting that the company is heavily investing into infrastructure.\n<\/p>\n

\n The River Loddon\n<\/p>\n

\n A spokesperson for Southern Water said: “We\u2019re forging ahead with our largest ever investment programme of \u00a38.8 billion between 2025 and 2030.\n<\/p>\n

\n “That includes \u00a31.5 billion to reduce storm overflows and hundreds of millions more on removing nutrients such as phosphate and nitrates from wastewater.\n<\/p>\n

\n “Climate change and population growth are major challenges but we plan many years ahead and explain it in detail<\/a>. Storm overflows in the exceptional rainfall experienced in January and February happened to prevent homes schools and hospitals from flooding.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Groundwater is also a serious challenge for many agencies. Southern Water says its job is to keep our network running so customers can use their facilities as normal, and high groundwater forces its way into cracks in pipes or over the tops of manholes.\n<\/p>\n

\n The River Test at Whitchurch (Image: Whitchurch Conservation Group)\n<\/p>\n

\n Because of this, numerous major sewer sealing projects are underway in areas most impacted.\n<\/p>\n

\n Thames Water says it is working closely with developers and planning authorities across the region to ensure water and sewerage infrastructure can support growth, and where upgrades are needed, to accommodate new developments.\u202f\n<\/p>\n

\n A Thames Water spokesperson,\u00a0said:\u202f\u00a0\u201cWe appreciate the concerns raised in Councillor Dr Paul Harvey\u2019s recent letter.\u00a0Improving the health of rivers in and around Basingstoke\u00a0remains\u00a0a key priority for us.\n<\/p>\n

\n “We are delivering the most significant upgrade to our wastewater network in 150 years,\u00a0increasing treatment capacity, reducing storm discharges, and introducing new nutrient\u00a0reduction measures.\n<\/p>\n

\n Thames Water in the north of the Borough (Image: Cllr Paul Harvey)\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe first half of this\u00a0financial year\u00a0has been marked by solid progress across all areas of our operational transformation. Our half-year results showed a 20 per cent reduction in\u00a0pollutions, reflecting the impact of our focused improvement programmes, and we expect this trajectory to continue across the\u00a0remainder\u00a0of the\u00a0financial\u00a0year.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe also recognise the pressures created by a growing population and new housing across Basingstoke. While we are not a statutory consultee for individual planning applications, when consulted, we assess the potential impact of new developments on water and wastewater services and advise where upgrades may be needed.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe remain committed to supporting healthier waterways, working closely with the Environment Agency, local councils, and community partners, while recognising that we can\u2019t do it alone, farming, industry, road runoff, wildlife, and extreme weather all influence river health.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n The Environmental Agency explained that it is now a statutory requirement for water companies to produce annual plans showing how they will meet our expectation of reducing pollution incidents by 40 per cent. and it will “not hesitate” to take necessary action.\n<\/p>\n

\n Cllr Harvey called for “urgent” action (Image: BDBC\/Cllr Paul Harvey)\n<\/p>\n

\n Water companies must now monitor 100 per cent of storm overflows across the network, up from 10 per cent in 2015.\n<\/p>\n

\n The agency also investigates water company non-compliance in line with its Enforcement and Sanctions Police.\n<\/p>\n

\n An Environment Agency spokesperson said: \u201cWe are committed to the protection and restoration of our cherished chalk streams.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn 2025 the EA carried out over 130 compliance inspections in the chalk stream catchments of the River Itchen, River Test, River Meon, River Hamble and River Loddon, and we do not hesitate to take enforcement action where appropriate.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe carry out inspections where spill data suggests frequent or prolonged discharges, or where other intelligence suggests risk of environmental harm.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cMembers of the public should report any signs of pollution to our 24 hour hotline 0800 80 70 60.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As previously reported, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council leader Cllr Dr Paul Harvey and cabinet member for strategic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-466232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}