Recent Incidents in Exmouth

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.