£4 Million Investment To Improve Bognor Regis Water Quality

Bognor Regis is one of the most popular seaside resorts in the UK, originally a fishing village (and a hotspot for smuggling!) but which became the place to go in the 18th century for restorative sea air.

Sir Richard Hotham, a London-based property developer), decided to relocate to this part of West Sussex and set about building a new fashionable coastal destination to attract wealthier visitors… and it worked, with King George V reportedly favouring the township as his preferred place in which to convalesce!

As to whether King George would feel the same now in the 21st century is a matter up for debate, however, with the bathing water quality at Bognor Regis currently rated as poor.

This means that the local authority has to display an ‘advice against bathing’ symbol for the entire bathing water season (May to September), as well as displaying information on pollution causes and what work is being undertaken to clean it up.

£4 million investment

Southern Water has confirmed that £4 million in funding has been made available for Bognor Regis to help improve water quality, with investigations taking place to identify the best solutions available to reduce storm overflow sewage spills.

Innovative technology and robots will be used to inspect the local sewerage system, with surveys being carried out to see where improvements can be pushed through.

This will help the water company see which interventions would be most appropriate to help it reduce storm overflow use, such as the installation of sustainable drainage systems like swales, water butts and rain gardens. Other options include expanding swales and building additional storm storage capacity.

Keith Herbert, engineering lead for the supplier’s Clean Rivers and Seas Plan, said: “We know how important it is that we play our part in protecting rivers and seas across our region and we’re excited to start working in Bognor.

“Our engineers are busy surveying and inspecting our network ahead of putting in place measures this year which will make a real difference to creating healthier rivers and seas in this area.”

Clean Rivers and Seas

Southern Water’s Clean Rivers and Seas Plan demonstrates how the company intends to reduce storm overflow use across its catchment area to ensure compliance with government and environmental targets.

An interactive map has been designed to showcase all planned improvement projects for every storm overflow in the region, including active and planned projects and overviews of all relevant details, including the main cause of releases, average annual releases, the estimated investment required, when work is due to begin and proposed solutions to reduce the number of releases from each overflow.

The company has now entered its delivery and testing phase, with different solutions being trialled in small areas to work out the best solutions for the wider region.

As Southern Water explains, it is now building on the progress made since privatisation, with £10 billion spent to increase the amount of wastewater that’s treated before being put back into the natural environment (with approximately 95 per cent treated, compared to around 50 per cent previously).

This has succeeded in improving bathing water quality from 28 per cent of sites meeting public health standards pre-privatisation to 84 per cent now classified as either good or excellent.

How can businesses help?

Businesses also have a responsibility to ensure that they’re not causing water pollution and there is government guidance for different sectors to help them fulfil their own environmental responsibilities.

For example, there is specific information relating to the use of oil above ground, petrol in underground tanks, slurry, silage, agricultural fuel oil, sheep dip, pesticides, herbicides, solvents and so on. An environmental permit may be required if your operations see substances discharged to surface or groundwater.

Other activities that produce contaminated groundwater and which can potentially cause pollution include vehicle washing, yard cleaning, wheelie bin washing, manufacturing processes, water cooling and cleaning of ovens and food production areas.

It’s also important to prioritise water-saving solutions, as well as focusing on water quality, if you’re to really improve the water footprint of your business.

A great first step towards reducing water usage and consumption is to have a water audit of your site carried out so you can see how and where you use water. From there you can decide which solutions would be most effective for you. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with the Switch Water Supplier team today.