Skip to main content
Site logo

Main navigation

  • About Gillian Keegan
  • Campaigns
  • News
  • In Parliament
  • Contact
  • Cost of Living Support
  • Department for Education
Site logo

Southern Water opperations update

  • Tweet
Thursday, 18 August, 2022

Below is an update from Southern Water - 18.08.2022

After months of hot, dry conditions across the UK, where we have seen far-below average rainfall, the ground has hardened so that it cannot readily absorb moisture. Instead rainfall will run off the surface in our drains, adding additional pressure on our sewers. 

 This is what we saw happen yesterday when thunderstorms in the region brought very heavy rain which fell onto parched ground that couldn’t absorb surface run-off. This meant that more rain than usual overwhelmed our network and led to some overflows – which are used to protect homes, schools, businesses and hospitals from flooding – spilling excess water into the sea. Releases such as these are permitted and regulated by the Environment Agency, and heavily diluted; typically 95 per cent rainwater. 

 An additional issue is that in times of dry weather, heavier materials (rags, unflushables, grit, woody debris etc) settle and sit in the sewer. As heavy downpours hit, there will be then a sudden influx of wastewater into the sewer network which flushes out the sewer and clears the debris that has been sitting there, suddenly transporting it to pumping stations. This can lead to blockages forming, pumping stations getting clogged up and cause potential floods and storm overflows. 

 We provide near real-time information about storm overflow activity in coastal areas, via Beachbuoy, our near real-time reporting tool. You can find Beachbuoy on our website here. 

We are dedicated to significantly reducing our use of storm overflows and are running innovative Pathfinder pilot schemes across the region to reduce the amount of rainfall entering our combined sewers by 2030. What we discover in our Pathfinder areas, will help inform our investment plans moving forward. For more information, please visit our Storm Overflow Task Force pages Storm Overflow Task Force (southernwater.co.uk) 

You may also be interested in

Chichester Harbour

Improving Water Quality

Gillian is working closely with fellow MPs, agencies and organisations to improve coastal water quality. Keep up to date with her work below.

For the latest water quality readings from the Chichester Harbour Conservancy - CLICK HERE

Gillian on a farm in the South Downs

Supporting our rural and coastal communities

Gillian works to support rural communities and businesses. Gillian represents a large part of the South Downs National Park and coastline from Chichester Harbour AONB to the Pagham Nature reserve that includes the Port of Selsey.

  • Local News
Letter Head

Gillian Keegan MP Demands Better for Chichester Harbour

Friday, 27 January, 2023

Gillian Keegan, the Member of Parliament for Chichester, has called on the head of Southern Water to commit to immediate action to improve the situation at Chichester Harbour.

Show only

  • Articles
  • Local News
  • Media
  • Speeches
  • Speeches in Parliament
  • Westminster News

Gillian Keegan Member of Parliament for Chichester

Footer

  • About RSS
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • About Gillian
  • Parliamentary Record
Promoted by Gillian Keegan at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Copyright 2023 Gillian Keegan Member of Parliament for Chichester . All rights reserved.
Powered by Bluetree