Owl wonders whether South West Water staff attended the same training programme as the Post Office “Horizon” team?

Andy Tyerman

I raised a number of issues I have with the current WaterFit site using the Independent Customer Panel. They responded positively and asked SWW to address my points. So far so good.

Today [posted 2 days ago]  I have received a response where they have ‘endeavoured’ to answer the issues.

I will leave it up to you to judge whether you think this is a company who is listening to it’s customers.

Here is the letter in full starting with an outline of my queries:

We have endeavoured to answer your queries with regards to WaterFit Live, which the chair of the WaterShare+ panel forwarded to us.

Your queries covered the following:

1. National consistency – in the SW we have 10 million visitors every year. There are three water companies and Surfers Against Sewage who issue nearly real time reports on storm overflows. Each has set its own criteria for reporting spills. A spill in Exmouth will be shown for 12.5 hours whilst the same spill in Portsmouth will be shown for 72 hours. In a recent Westminster Hall debate North Devon MP Selaine Saxby spoke of the ‘recommended gold standard of one full tidal cycle’ (12.5 hours) to clear pollution – a standard she has not provided the source for and no one else has heard of. Without national standards for reporting the public cannot be expected to know the different reporting standards for each water authority region.

2. History – WaterFit Live reports only the most recent spill however short. So a CSO could spill for many days stop and then spill for five minutes. A member of the public using the site will only see the five minute spill. A recent history would give much better context and information for water users to make an informed decision about using the water.

3. Types of pollution – WaterFit Live only reports on spills from Combined Sewage Overflows (CSOs). Although water pollutions can be from other sources beyond the water company’s control there are steps that could be taken to cover more threats to water quality. Within the infrastructure a burst pipe or a spill from an Emergency Overflow will not currently be reported on WaterFIt Live. Recently in Exmouth we have had spills from the pumping station at North Exton and the Environment Agency has issued Advice Against Bathing notices whilst WaterFit has shown no alert. (The EA widget is available on the WaterFit site but only at the second CSO level – why would you look if the beach level is showing clear?

4. Accessibility – WaterFit Live is a conventional website there is no capability of setting a favourite beach or receiving push notifications. The site is confusing to navigate with priority given to proposed spend on the location rather than informing of any threat to water quality.

5. Customer input – Since the launch of WaterFit I have sought to work with the team at SWW to provide user feedback. Most recently I suggested a user panel to Susan Davy at the Barnstable meeting and also in a meeting with Laura Flowerdew. I have yet to receive a response.

Below you can find our response:

Our aspiration and commitment over the next two years is for WaterFit Live to become the single, go-to resource for customers and communities seeking information about storm overflows in their local water environment. Starting initially with our bathing beaches and ultimately moving inland to our rivers

The Environment Agency’s online tool SWIMFO Bathing water quality (data.gov.uk) can be used to choose where and when to swim based on the pollution risk forecasts and advice from the Environment Agency.

The bathing waters in the South West region are typically fully tidal; open coastal sites with good tidal exchange volumes (large tidal ranges) over a single tidal cycle of 12.5 hours. This means that they are swept within one full turn of the tide and a bathing water will no longer be impacted after this time. Our historic water quality sampling carried out at bathing water sites following pollution incidents demonstrates tidal exchange over 12.5 hours, with background conditions/good water quality being re-established with this timeframe. We therefore retain our Beach level ‘amber alerts’ on WaterFit Live for 12.5 hours. We are working with others across the water industry to develop a more consistent approach to sharing this data.

SAS state that their justification for retaining an alert on their App for 48 hours is based on World Health Organisation research. This research incorporated coastal environments across the globe, including bathing waters where tidal movement is minimal and where there is therefore very limited tidal exchange (for example the Mediterranean and Caribbean). These environments are very different to those in the South West of England.

It is important to note that we currently also share the start/stop activation data for those storm overflows associated with our bathing waters. This information can be found on our beach level maps. For each storm overflow, a red pin shows that a storm overflow is active, a green one shows that it is not active, and an amber pin shows that it has been active in the last 24 hours. We also share the most recent activation information.

Individual companies are making their own decisions about the specific data they share. While there is no requirement under the Environment Act (2021) to provide historic storm water overflow performance data, we are providing information on the last EDM activation, along with the current near real-time information that is require under the Act. This is our current position.

While we don’t currently have plans for a user panel, this is an interesting idea. Currently, our WaterShare+ Panel receive regular updates on WaterFit Live whilst our WaterFit Live Steering group receives customer feedback and considers how it can be integrated with our plans, ensuring WaterFit Live continues to be useful and effective.

Andy Tyerman Author, responds:

Besides ignoring most of the points I raised the argument around the clearing in one tidal cycle may apply in some coastal areas without a large estuary and complex arrangent of sandbanks such as we have in Exmouth. If they are so sure why do other WCs and most other countries adopt a longer period for alerts. This is a public health issue and a longer alert period should be the default.

This response clearly shows South West Water priority is to remove alerts as soon as possible rather than ensuring the public is safe.