South West Water has reached a major milestone in its work to build a new storm tank at The Ham in Sidmouth, to improve the town’s sewage network, reduce the use of storm overflows and protect the quality of its bathing waters.
The new storm tank has now been installed and This work forms part of a wider £12 million programme of improvements in Sidmouth to strengthen the sewerage network and enhance local water quality.
The storm tank, which provides 100,000 litres of additional storage, will capture excess flows during periods of heavy rainfall and store them until there is capacity in the network for full treatment.
This will help reduce spills from The Ham and protect water quality at Sidmouth Town Beach, which has consistently been rated “Excellent” by the Environment Agency.
Around £3.4 million has been invested in this stage of the project to the storm tank.
Work on site will continue until June, when teams will complete the electrical and mechanical installation of equipment and carry out works to bring the new storm tank into operation.
Once this is complete, South West Water’s teams will begin removing the site compound and restoring the area so the space can be handed back to the community ahead of the Sidmouth Folk Festival, which runs from 31 July to 7 August.
The project builds on work carried out in 2024 to reduce groundwater entering the sewer network, including surveying 8.5km of sewer, relining 604 metres of sewer and improving 32 manholes to help the system perform more effectively during wet weather.
Further improvements are planned as part of the wider programme in Sidmouth, including surface water separation works, which will help reduce the amount of rainwater entering the sewer network.
Chris Bradford, South West Water’s Project Manager for Sidmouth, said: “Installing the storm tank is a significant milestone for this project and an important step in improving the resilience of Sidmouth’s sewerage network.
"Our focus is now on linking the new tank to the existing pumping station, completing the mechanical and electrical work and commissioning the system over the coming weeks.”
For more information about the Sidmouth project visit https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/about-us/what-we-do/engineering-projects/wastewater/sidmouth-sewer-improvements