WORKING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

J Gareth Jones, Director Environment and Quality

Introduction

Wessex Water is one of ten regional water companies serving a population of around 2.7 million people. Since 1989 it has operated in the private sector, although it continues to operate as a very local public water supplier. We are responsible for the supply of pure drinking water and the collection and treatment of the waste. Every day the Wessex Water region consumes around 400 million litres of drinking water and we collect and treat about 500 million litres of waste. In the Poole/Bournemouth conurbation, drinking water is also supplied to certain parts by the Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water Company, but Wessex Water alone is responsible for the drainage. This article outlines the work that Wessex has carried out in recent times to improve the quality of life of our customers and to protect and improve the environment in which we operate.

Drinking Water Supplies

Drinking water quality in the Poole area has always been exceptionally good. The source of our water supply is mainly groundwater, bore holes that are driven deep into the chalk aquifer and then, after treatment, which usually only involves disinfection, is supplied through a network of service reservoirs to your homes. One of the down sides of chalk groundwater is that it is naturally hard. While the medical profession supports the benefits of hard water from a health standpoint, customers sometimes become upset about the chalky deposits that these waters produce. There is no easy answer to hard water. While itis quite possible to reduce the hardness through chemical means, the degree to which regulations allow a water company to soften the supplies would mean that many customers would see little difference in the finished product. Many customers write to us on the issue of fluoridation. The dental profession believes that the addition to fluoride to our water supplies will make a positive contribution to the reduction of tooth decay. There has been much debate on this subject. In recent times a Government document "Our Healthier Nation", supported widespread fluoridation. However, water companies, respecting the views of their customers, have resisted the artificial fluoridation of drinking water. They want to see legislation requiring them to add fluoride after a proper debate has taken place at a local level. Wessex Water does not add any fluoride to drinking water. This has been the position of our Board for many years and still is its policy today.

Over the years, changes in drinking water quality standards has led to significant capital investment in water treatment. Because groundwaters are naturally pure, there has been little need to build complicated water treatment plant to guarantee the purity of the water supplies. However, a small "bug" cryptospondium has attracted a lot of attention within the water industry. Its presence in drinking water could give rise to extreme cases of sickness and diarrhoea. As a purely precautionary measure, Wessex Water, like many other water companies, is in the middle of an investment programme to add membrane treatment (very, very fine filtration) to remove the presence of this "bug". These plants are being installed at water sources in the Stour Valley and will be completed in the next couple of years. In the meantime, daily monitoring for the presence of this "bug" is carried out. We have never found the presence of the "bug". So the additional treatment will give us all added confidence in the purity of our water supplies.

The Rivers of our Area

The principal rivers of the Poole area are the Stour and the Frome. The Frome, starting out its life as the Piddle, eventually flows into Poole Bay, while the Stour joins the Avon and discharges into Christchurch harbour. These rivers are affected by the effects of groundwater abstraction and the discharges from the sewage works. Over the years, investment programmes have been put in place to reduce the effects on river flows from abstractions. At sewage works, treatment processes have been significantly upgraded to improve the quality to a level, which maintains the very high quality rivers into which they discharge.
Significant investment has taken place in Poole itself The huge treatment works at Cabot Lane has made a major contribution to the improvement of quality in Poole harbour. Investments in the Stour Valley and in the Piddle Valley again have delivered visible improvements to the rivers and to the life within them.

But the job does not stop there. There is still a lot more to be done. Last winter the effects of abnormal rainfall caused significant flooding problems in parts of the region and areas of Poole were not without their problems. Sewage flooding is a horrible experience. Changing weather patterns and the ability of surface water and highway drains to take rainfall away quickly and safely is progressively causing more and more problems in the country. The next ten years is likely to see major investment in the sewerage system. Experts are beginning to accept that climate change is happening and the consequences of it are just beginning to be realised.

River flooding and the prevention of it is the responsibility of the Environment Agency. Major problems, albeit outside the Broadstone area, were experienced last winter on the bottom end of the Stour and the Avon. There are no quick or easy solutions to these events but Wessex Water, working closely with the Environment Agency, plan to deliver progressive improvements in the coming years.

From time to time, our operations cause upset to our customers. Odours at sewage treatment works have become a real problem in recent times. From time to time, no matter how modem the sewage treatment works, odours are produced. We work hard to minimise the impact of these events, but we have little control over the materials that are flushed down the drain. On occasions, indiscriminate disposals of certain compounds (oils, pesticides, cooking oils, disposable nappies) threaten the operation of the treatment processes. We are always keen to encourage our customers to "think before they flush". For many years the industry has promoted a bag it and bin it approach, which encourages our customers to dispose of things like disposable nappies, razor blades and the like in a safe way through the dustbin. This will mean an improvement in the performance of our sewage works and a serious reduction in the residues that can often be seen on the riverbank or on the beach.

Golden Beaches Our Natural Heritage

Tourism is a vital part of the local economy. The golden beaches and the Blue Flags they fly, attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. This part of our region is one of the Rivieras of the South West. Wessex Water has over many years played its part in ensuring that the quality of discharges from its sewage works are of such high quality that Blue Flag status of the bathing waters and the beaches can be achieved. More work is yet to be done. In the next few years further stages of treatment at Poole and Lychett Minster will complete ultra-violet disinfection of all of the discharges from Christchurch to Swanage. This will give even better quality to the seawater, which attracts both locals and tourists.

In conclusion, while a lot has been done to secure consistent high quality water services in this part of our region, there is always more to do and sometimes we do not get it right first time. We can always improve the standard and quality of service to our customers and we are determined to do that. To that end, we have recently re-organised our operational structure to reflect a more local divisional presence. Your local Divisional Manager is David Elliott, who works out of our Nuffield Road Office and can be contacted on Tel No 01225 526 000. David has the job of bringing Wessex back into the local community. He is tasked with delivering local solutions for local issues. He will ensure that there are effective and efficient methods of communication between our customers and represent Wessex Water at meetings so that we can provide continuity. Use him if you need to.

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