Following a resignation by Susan Davy, following her disgraceful record at South west water, it is time for an update.
Drought??
Cornwall has been under a hosepipe ban since August 2022.
In November 2022, SW water said:-
Reservoir levels across the South West are now very low and, in particular, are extremely low in Cornwall, following one of the driest periods in the region for over 130 years. Levels continue to fall and will remain low for the foreseeable future, without a sustained and substantial period of rainfall this Autumn, which is not currently forecasted.
They seem to have removed this paragraph from their website now!
I thought I’d check with an independent rainfall monitoring site. I chose Newquay Weather station.
This shows that the rainfall from 2020 to 2023 was ABOVE average.
As the latest full month of data was June, I extracted the rainfall for the 12 months up to June for the last 14 years. It is quite obvious that we have had above average rainfall for the last three years. Of course it is possible that all the rain fell on Newquay and avoided the reservoirs. Or maybe it’s due to:-
lack of planning for the increasing population
failure to cure leaks
lack of investment in storage facilities (the last completed reservoir in Cornwall is Drift Reservoir, which was officially completed in 1962, the last one in the South west is Roadford Lake in Devon, which was finished in 1989)
complacency
or, encompassing all of the above, not giving a toss.
Pollution
Meanwhile South West Water is polluting our beaches with raw sewage whenever we get rain.
Eighty per cent of beaches in Cornwall have been given raw sewage alerts after heavy rain in the South-west, according to the pressure group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).
SAS monitors water quality across 68 beaches in Cornwall, in the South-west of England. Of those beaches, 33 have received a “sewage pollution alert” and 21 others have received a “pollution risk forecast or incident alert”.
Ms Davy, who is chief executive of South West Water’s parent company Pennon, is paid a base salary of £456,000, but with her bonus, incentives and benefits the company’s latest set of accounts show her total pay was bumped up to £1.6m.
As the rainfall dropped all the way down to average, and the chickens came home to roost over the lack of investment in infrastructure and the huge bonuses paid to director and shareholders, she must have felt some sense of shame, (or possibly trying to hold onto her job following public anger):-
Last month, Susan Davy who has run South West Water’s owner for nearly three years, along with several other industry executives, decided to waive her £450,000 bonus amid growing public anger over the condition of the industry.
The decision contributed to her salary package falling from £1.53 million to £543,000 last year, as Davy only received her base salary, benefits and pension.
Earlier this month, Pennon sparked outrage by raising its dividend for the year by 10 per cent to £111.7m, despite South West Water being fined £2.15m in April for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea around Devon and Cornwall.
The company is also facing an investigation by industry regulator Ofwat into whether South West Water accurately reported leaks and the amount of water used by customers.
Poor soul, how will she manage to live off only £543,000 per year?
Then in 2024
NORTH Cornwall MP Ben Maguire has urged South West Water’s Chief Executive, Susan Davy, to “do the decent thing” and quit while leading a debate on the Cornish sewage scandal in the House of Commons.
Mr Maguire led a recent debate on Sewage Discharges in the House of Commons Chamber and highlighted the widespread failings of South West Water. Speaking to a busy Commons Chamber and facing off against Environment Minister Emma Hardy MP across the Dispatch Box, Mr Maguire explained how the issue of sewage dumping in our waterways was one of the biggest concerns constituents raised during the General Election.
Mr Maguire highlighted the shocking sewage dumping statistics at world renowned beaches like Harlyn, Daymer Bay, Polzeath, Summerleaze and Crackington Haven while also highlighting the poor water quality in rivers including the Allen and Inney. The River Camel’s water quality had earlier today been labelled “unfavourable” and Cornwall’s Wildlife Trust urged action before ecosystems and species suffer irreversible damage.
Cornish times
Well done Ben McGuire.
Then in 2025
South West Water has agreed to pay a £24m penalty for illegal sewage discharges into the environment from its treatment works.
The regulator for the water and wastewater sector in England and Wales, Ofwat, says the company, which has 1.8 million customers in Cornwall, Devon, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Dorset and Somerset, is being penalised for dumping sewage in breach of its legal permit conditions.
But there was anger over revelations on Thursday that the regulator had not imposed a direct fine on the company.
A Cornwall MP says he has become so frustrated with sewage pollution, he has put the Chief Executive of South West Water on what he has described as “resignation watch”.
Noah Law, the MP for Newquay and St Austell, has said he is issuing a ‘final warning’ to Susan Davy, calling for her to take immediate action to upgrade the region’s sewage treatment infrastructure.
South West Water Chief Executive Officer Susan Davy will step down from her role and retire from Pennon Group’s board, bringing an end to her 18-year career with the water utility giant.
Ms Davy has been CEO of Pennon Group, the parent company of South West Water, since July 2020. Before that, she served as Chief Financial Officer for five years.
Her retirement comes just a day after industry regulator Ofwat found a “range of failures” in how South West Water had managed its wastewater treatment works and sewer network. Ofwat said South West Water (SWW) “failed to meet its legal obligations”, pointing to a lack of adequate management systems, including oversight from the senior leaders and board.
Lynn Parker, Ofwat’s Senior Director of Enforcement, said: “We’ve found significant failings that have led to more spills than the law allows over a significant number of years so we consider this to be systemic failings.
The piece of paper known as South West Water has been fined tens of millions of pounds for pollution offences. This is simply an example of a certain section of society looking after its own. See Fining Pieces of Paper.
Complaining to South West Water
Complain directly here although due to the SWWs lack of investment in anything (except their shareholders) you may be waiting a while for an answer.
Most reviewers were let down by their experience overall. People express widespread dissatisfaction with various aspects of the company’s services. Consumers are particularly unhappy with the level of customer service they receive, citing slow response times and a general lack of helpfulness. The payment processes also appear to be a significant source of frustration for many consumers. Furthermore, reviewers frequently mention negative experiences with the staff, highlighting issues related to contacting the company and resolving complaints. The general consensus is that the level of service provided does not meet expectations, leaving many people feeling disappointed and underserved.
