Photo Kyle Baker
Sidmouth’s beaches are a major asset for the town and are enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. Cleanliness of these beaches is therefore vital to people’s continuing enjoyment. Unfortunately over recent years there has been a lot of information in the press and on social media about sewage spills into the UK’s seas and rivers. Sidmouth Town Council is delighted therefore, that South West Water (SWW) has chosen to accelerate investment into the sewerage infrastructure so that spills become rare.
Phase 2 of SWW’s 3 part project is now finished with the completion of the additional storage tank on the Ham. This means that under high rainfall conditions additional storage will be available delaying, or eliminating, the need to spill sewage. The work was done on time and budget. The Folk Festival will shortly be moving onto the Ham to prepare for this year’s Festival. As there is insufficient time for turf to be laid and bed down, the Ham will be covered with a temporary surface for the whole of the Folk Festival, and all the way up to the Regatta and Airshow at the end of August. After this, the temporary surface will be removed and turf laid.
Part 1 of South West Water’s project was completed last year with 8.4km of CCTV surveys and 804m of sewers lined, preventing fresh water flowing into the sewers when the water table is high. It is this flow of fresh water into the sewers that overloads the system meaning the pumps at the Ham do not have the capacity to pump everything up to the Sidford Treatment works. Overloading of the system leads to sewage spills as there is nowhere else for it to go. The final part of the SWW Project also addresses this overloading, as much of the rainwater that falls onto roofs and roads in the southern part of Sidmouth runs into the sewers. This is a legacy of old building practices. During Phase 3, surface water will be rerouted from the sewer into the river with protective traps to ensure runoff does not pollute the river. This work will be done in 2027.
Once complete, the number of spills will be reduced from around 100 per year to an average of no more than 10, and no more than 2 in the summer bathing season. The work already undertaken has had an impact and there are fewer spills than a few years ago.
To check on sea water quality, the Environment Agency (EA) takes samples weekly to check for pathogens and these data are published. (See link) The 2025 classification was excellent, as were the results in 2023 and 2024, and Sidmouth retains its Blue Flag status. https://environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/profiles/profile.html?site=ukk4301-21800
Visitors are sometimes concerned that because the water is brown it is polluted. This is not so. It is brown because of the frequent natural cliff falls. However to support the EA sampling activities, Sidmouth is lucky to have a number of citizen science groups also taking water samples to independently monitor the performance of South West Water, and help reassure people that the water is safe for swimming and water sports.