Previous Updates

In October, South West Water informed us of their plans in place for permanent works which involve the replacement of the rising main from Maer Road pumping station up to Maer Lane sewage treatment works. South West Water aim for this replacement to be complete by Spring 2025 and more details of the proposed phases of work can be found on their website. 

South West Water have assured us that they are working hard to mitigate environmental impacts during this interim phase and we accept that this increased investment in Exmouth is a positive step forward in reducing the incidents which have been a particular problem throughout the year. 

We will continue to monitor South West Water’s compliance with their permits during ongoing replacement works. Whilst we are putting pressure on South West Water to meet their aim for completion at the end of March this is not something we can regulate against. We are inspecting the site to check progress and monitor environmental impact over the winter months. 

We acknowledge that South West Water have clear steps planned in Exmouth to reduce the number of sewage spills to the environment and comply with their AMP7 Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) obligations. We have raised our concerns with Ofwat on the timeliness of these AMP7 improvements. We cannot accept South West Water’s AMP7 WINEP schemes as complete until Maer Lane sewage treatment works have been upgraded. South West Water have committed to do this by April 2028. Find out more about AMP7 and WINEP:  Price Review 2024 | Engage Environment Agency.

Exmouth bathing water is monitored via weekly sampling throughout the bathing season, May - September. Exmouth had 20 classification samples taken by the Environment Agency this summer. These results are added to the previous 3 years to assign the beach a classification. Exmouth beach enjoys Excellent standard water quality for most of the time and the results for this year bear that out. 

However, in late August, the South West Water sewage system in Exmouth failed and sewage being pumped away from the town leaked into a local stream. The stream which enters the beach at Exmouth was monitored intensely during this period with additional bacteria sampling and continuous water quality monitoring. The public were warned using our SWIMFO(External link) webpage if we suspected there was a risk to the bathing beach.  

We are delighted that Exmouth continues to be an excellent beach on our classification system and the bathing water and fresh waters impacting the beach will remain a priority focus for the Environment Agency. We will use all our powers to ensure the long-term future of this incredible area is protected through further monitoring and the investment needed by South West Water.