Exmouth - a sewage system fit for the future

We have been notified that the initial hearing in the Exmouth Burst Rising Main case has been adjourned from 14 October 2026 to 31 March 2027.

South West Water made an application for this hearing to be adjourned, we opposed this request, however, the Court has granted the request, and the hearing will now take place on 31 March 2027 at Exeter Magistrates Court.

Permit Number: 003174/FU/02, 201965, 200124 and 200126

Consultation Closed

We held a public consultation from 4 August until 6 October 2026 to ask for your comments on these permit applications. This consultation is now closed.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to this consultation. We know people care deeply about their local environment, and your views help us make informed decisions that protect people, wildlife and water.

Now our consultation has closed, our permitting team will gather every response received through the online portal, by post, email and at our drop in event. They read every response and group comments into themes. Some responses may contribute to more than one theme.

As we review responses, we consider:

• Whether the issue falls within the Environment Agency's regulatory role or another organisation's responsibilities.
• Whether evidence has been provided to support the comments.
• Whether the response contains new information we do not already hold.
• Whether that information affects our assessment of the application against environmental standards and legal requirements, including impacts on people, wildlife and protected waters.

While we cannot reply to every individual response, we will address the themes raised in our draft decision document. Where comments relate to matters outside our regulatory responsibilities, we will explain this clearly.

We will carry out a second consultation on our draft decision. We do this when we are minded to issue a permit. This gives you the opportunity to review the draft permit and decision document and see how your consultation responses have informed our assessment. You can also provide further comments at this stage.

We assess comments from any further consultation in the same way. If we receive new information that affects our assessment, we will update the draft decision document to reflect it.

We must follow the Regulator's Code, which requires us to support those we regulate to comply with the law and improve their environmental performance. This means we can only refuse a permit where there is evidence that the application does not meet legal, policy or environmental requirements.

If the evidence shows that we cannot issue the permit, we will refuse the application. In these circumstances, there would be no further consultation. South West Water would have the right to appeal our decision.

We met again this afternoon with the UK Health Security Agency, East Devon District Council and the Animal and Plant Health Agency to review the latest information.

Based on the sample results we shared, the UK Health Security Agency considers the risk to human health from swimming in Exmouth bathing water to be low. Considering this advice, we are removing our advice against bathing.

East Devon District Council will remove the warning signs from the beach as soon as possible.

Please continue to avoid Littleham Brook

While the bathing water is no longer affected, we continue to advise people and animals to stay out of Littleham Brook. Warning signs remain in place and should be followed.

The situation is improving, but some pollutant remains in sediment on the bed of the stream. If this sediment is disturbed, there is a risk that pollution could be released downstream and potentially reach the sea.

Our officers have successfully contained much of the pollutant using sandbags. Specialist contractors are now trialling options to remove the remaining material from the stream. We expect to receive their recommendations shortly and will decide on the next steps.

We will continue to monitor the situation

We are continuing to monitor conditions closely, particularly with rain forecast for Sunday afternoon.

If there is significant rainfall, there is a possibility that pollution could be carried downstream and affect the bathing water again. At present, the pollutant remains settled on the stream bed and there is no evidence that it is reaching the sea.

If conditions change, we may need to reinstate our advice against bathing. Please check Swimfo before swimming for the latest information.

As always, we recommend following the Swim Healthy guidance when swimming in open water.

Why we cannot yet identify the pollutant

We know many people want to know exactly what the pollutant was.

In most cases we would be able to share this information. However, in this instance, doing so could identify the source of the pollution before our investigation is complete.

At this stage, we cannot provide details of any individual, business or organisation that may be linked to the incident. Releasing information prematurely could compromise any criminal investigation or future legal proceedings.

When we are able to share more information, we will do so. However, completing our investigation may take several months.

What we can confirm is that the incident was linked to a chemical spill from premises in Exmouth. It was not sewage pollution.

We ask people not to speculate about the source of the pollution while our investigation is ongoing.

Our priority remains understanding any potential risk to human health.

We have started receiving results from laboratory analysis today. Once all results have been received, we will share them with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), who will assess any potential public health risks. Our advice not to bathe in the affected area will remain in place until we receive UKHSA's assessment.

We understand this will be disappointing for those who use and enjoy the water. However, it is important that any decision to change our advice is based on a full assessment of the available evidence.

We are assessing the potential to work with our pollution remediation contractor to remediate any remaining polluting material in the Littleham Brook and have been out on the river over the weekend putting some sandbag walls in place at two locations to limit any further downstream movement of the pollutant.

This remains a live investigation. At this stage, we cannot provide details of any individual, business or organisation that may be linked to the incident. Releasing information about potential sources before our investigation is complete could compromise any criminal investigation or future legal proceedings.

Our officers continue to gather and assess evidence to establish the cause of the pollution and identify those responsible. If we find evidence of offences, we will consider the most appropriate regulatory or enforcement action.

Any enforcement action will be taken in line with the Environment Agency's Enforcement and Sanctions Policy. This means we will consider the available evidence, the seriousness of any offence, the environmental harm caused, and which enforcement response is most appropriate in the circumstances.

We understand the concern this incident has caused locally. Protecting rivers, coastal waters, wildlife and the communities that depend on them is a vital part of our work. Where the evidence shows environmental legislation has been breached, we will take appropriate action.

We know many of you have questions about the pollution incident at Littleham Brook in Exmouth. Here's where things stand.

What we're doing now: Our investigation continues, including work to identify exactly what the pollutant is and how much has entered the brook.

How serious is this? We've classed this as a Category 1 incident, the most serious pollution category. This reflects the severe environmental impact and the significant time the brook will need to recover.

What is happening now? Both the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are testing the samples that we have recently taken from the Brook.

UKHSA and APHA will provide advice on whether there is a public or animal health risk. This advice will be made available and shared as soon as is possible.

Our advice to you right now: Please continue to avoid bathing at Exmouth and avoid all contact - for people, pets and livestock - with Littleham Brook until we advise otherwise.

We'll share updates as soon as we have more information.

We have been sent the below statement from Ofwat, which we wanted to share with you and may inform your consultation response.

In September 2025, Ofwat concluded an enforcement investigation with South West Water in relation to how it operated its wastewater treatment works and networks. It found that the company had failed to construct, operate and maintain a large proportion of its wastewater assets to ensure sufficient performance. Ofwat accepted legally binding undertakings requiring the company to address capacity and resilience issues across its wastewater assets. The company is now required to develop and deliver a remediation plan to address identified issues as quickly and efficiently as reasonably possible, taking account of deliverability, affordability and financeability.

As part of the remediation plan Maer Lane WWTW requires further investigation and remediation due to several existing performance concerns.

Ofwat is aware that these existing issues are relevant when considering the new outfall at Straight Point, which will see the transfer of additional flows to Maer Lane WWTW as a result of South West Water revising its WINEP schemes at Maer Road and Phear Park pumping stations. As part of its remediation plan South West Water must ensure that its WWTW can and will continue to be able to handle the flows coming to them. In the case of Maer Lane WWTW, this should include any additional flows arising from the company's revised WINEP scheme solutions.

Ofwat will take these matters into account when agreeing, and subsequently monitoring, the company's remediation plan, helping to hold the company to account for the delivery timescales it has committed to and continuing to challenge it on whether there are opportunities to deliver faster. If the company fails to deliver in line with its commitment in its undertakings Ofwat can take further enforcement action. Ofwat will also keep under review whether there is any further action it must take as a result of its failure to deliver its original WINEP scheme outcomes on time.

There were two environmental incidents last week in Exmouth.

On Wednesday 9 September, South West Water (SWW) notified us of a spill from the Exmouth Sewage Treatment Works. The spill started at approximately 6am and stopped at approximately 9am. It entered the surface water drainage system and a watercourse which discharges to the Exmouth Bathing Water. One of our officers attended the site to investigate and take samples. Sampling on site showed elevated levels of ammonia in the watercourse.

We issued advice against bathing on the Swimfo website (Bathing water profile) which stayed in place for two tidal cycles (24 hours) from the time the discharge stopped, and was removed on Thursday morning, at which point we judged there was no longer a risk to water users from this incident.

On Friday 11 September, at 4.30pm, we received a report of a pollution incident on the Littleham Brook. An unknown pollutant, blue in colour, was discharging from a surface water drain into the watercourse. Our officers visited the site to investigate and we issued precautionary advice against bathing.

That night, we were able to trace the pollution back to an industrial related source and can confirm that it stopped at around 1am Saturday morning.

The pollution was not associated with the sewage network. Although the source had stopped, the pollutant continued to slowly move down the watercourse and reached the bathing water Saturday afternoon.

While the level of blue colouration in the water in the Littleham Brook had decreased by Sunday, water quality testing was still recording high ammonia and alkalinity (pH 8.1 – 8.9).

We are continuing our investigations on site today, including fish and ecological surveys. Some of this work may temporarily disturb material in the stream and increase the amount of pollutant in the water.

We are also investigating the source of the pollution to identify exactly what was discharged and understand its chemical makeup. This will help us assess how harmful it may be to the environment and decide what action is needed.

Although there is minimal visible impact to the bathing water, our advice against bathing at the downstream Exmouth bathing water will remain in place until water quality in the Littleham Brook returns to normal (Bathing water profile).

Please be reassured that we will continue to investigate the causes of both of these incidents and take appropriate enforcement action.

We've issued South West Water (SWW) with a Local Enforcement Position (LEP). This sets out our enforcement position in relation to the temporary use of a new outfall from the Sewage Treatment Works in Lyme Bay, approximately 300m south of Straight Point (at National Grid Reference SY 0396 7914).

The change is intended to reduce the frequency of storm overflows affecting Exmouth Beach Bathing Water and improve water quality for the communities, wildlife and businesses that rely on it.

This is a temporary arrangement. SWW has applied to amend their permits to make the change permanent. We will be consulting on that application soon and will invite you to share your views.

Our marine specialists have reviewed SWW's modelling. The modelling indicates that diverting the discharge to the new outfall will not affect water quality at Exmouth and is not expected to adversely affect shellfish waters in Lyme Bay or Sandy Bay.

A Local Enforcement Position (LEP) is not a permit and it is not permission from the Environment Agency.

It is a regulatory decision that sets out circumstances where we would not normally take enforcement action against a specific activity. This only applies where:

• the conditions of the LEP are met
• the activity is temporary
• the risks are understood and controlled
• there are no unacceptable impacts on people or the environment

We consider requests for LEPs on a case-by-case basis. In exceptional circumstances, they enable us to take a pragmatic approach by setting out our enforcement position for a specific activity while continuing to protect people and the environment.

Before SWW can rely on the LEP, they must provide:

• a monitoring plan showing how they will assess the impact on Sandy Bay and Budleigh Salterton bathing waters, and on Sandy Bay and Lyme Bay West shellfish waters
• a contingency plan that sets out the actions they will take if the actual environmental impacts are worse than those predicted by the modelling

The conditions of the LEP also require that:

• the new outfall can only discharge settled storm sewage and secondary treated sewage effluent that has been disinfected by means of ultra violet (UV) irradiation
• use of the new outfall must not cause water quality to deteriorate

We have also made clear our expectation that SWW will complete upgrades to the Maer Lane sewage treatment works by 31 December 2028.

The LEP will apply until 11 January 2027, or until we have made a decision on SWW's permit applications, whichever comes first. If SWW fails to comply with the conditions of the LEP, or if use of the new outfall causes pollution, we will withdraw the LEP immediately.

We have duly made the permit variation applications South West Water have submitted. This means we have all the information we need to determine the permit variations. The next step is to consult you on the application documents, and we are working with representatives from Exmouth Town Council, ESCAPE, Budleigh Salterton Town Council and East Devon District Council to design a consultation that works for you. We will be in touch with more details about this soon.

We have also concluded our 13-month investigation into pollution incidents that took place in Exmouth in 2023 and 2024. Now that all relevant evidence has been collected, as regulator we have taken the decision to prosecute South West Water.

Ten charges have been laid at Exeter Magistrates’ Court and we await a date for the first hearing.