aerial reservoir

Despite the recent spell of sunny weather, reservoir levels in the South West are looking healthy and although river levels reflect the recent dry weather, regional groundwater levels remain around average or above for the time of year.

Total reservoir storage is 85.8%, compared to 92.8% at this time last year. Colliford is 93% full, Roadford is 84% full and Wimbleball is 84% full.

There have been no hosepipe bans in the south west since 1996 and since the droughts of 1976, when customers in north Devon had to collect water from standpipes, South West Water has developed five new reservoirs – Roadford, Wimbleball, Colliford, Stannon and Park – increasing the region's storage total by 87,383 megalitres.

Stannon, a former china clay quarry bought from minerals extraction company Imerys in 2008, will become a fully operational reservoir by the end of this summer. It holds over 8,000 megalitres of water, and is around 60 metres deep.

Neil Whiter, South West Water's Water Strategy Manager, said: "We have put in place a comprehensive strategy to ensure a continued secure supply of water for the region.

"2009 was the 13th consecutive summer with no water restrictions and it is most unlikely that there will need to be any restrictions in 2010.

"Adding Park and Stannon to the distribution network represents a significant addition to water resources in Cornwall and further increases the robustness of our water supply system."

Notes to editors

• South West Water provides water and sewerage services to over 1.65 million residents across Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset and Dorset and over 10 million visitors a year.
• South West Water operates 634 sewage treatment works and 39 water treatment works.
• South West Water supplies over 420 million litres of water to its customers every day.
• South West Water has three major strategic reservoirs – Wimbleball on Exmoor, Colliford on Bodmin Moor, and Roadford, our biggest reservoir, which supplies Plymouth and South Devon – and 15 smaller, local reservoirs.

Published: 22 June 2010

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