South West Water teams work hard to restore Newquay’s wastewater network following major festival

South West Water’s teams are continuing to work hard behind the scenes in Newquay to keep the wastewater network flowing after the success of Boardmasters festival.

While the 30,000 festival-goers which flocked to the Cornish coast for this iconic event may have left the site, many people will still be enjoying the beaches, bars and campsites the local area has to offer.

In total over 40 colleagues from South West Water and its supply chain have been involved in the build up and aftermath of Boardmasters, with preparation beginning 10 months ago and work to return the network to normal still ongoing.

Local wastewater treatment processes are finely tuned to receive the more concentrated flows across the network during the festival and South West Water’s teams must carefully readjust the process over the course of many days as the levels return to usual.

Part of the planning process for the event also includes installing additional storage to cope with the higher demand and these flows take time to pass through the treatment works so the equipment can be taken back offline.

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Dave Swiggs, South West Water’s Director of Wastewater Services in Cornwall, said: “Preparing for the significant surge in pressure on our local network during festivals and events of this scale takes months of planning and weeks of increased effort from our brilliant colleagues to keep everything flowing as we need it to.

“It’s inspiring to see the hard work and passion our teams show to make sure these types of events run smoothly at the time and that our systems can recover to normal over the following weeks.

Preparation for Boardmasters starts month ahead of the festival as South West Water teams begin the lengthy process of thoroughly cleaning each part of the local wastewater treatment works and carry out checks on the sewer network to find and fix any potential issues.

Closer to the event, South West Water uses additional storage tanks to add the extra capacity needed to hold the increased flows which helps avoid overwhelming the treatment works.

Additional treatment equipment is also used to manage the change in flows – as higher populations result in a strong concentration of foul flows that requires adjustments to the treatment process.

As the event begins, local teams will adjust the pumping stations across the network to keep flows more predictable and constant which relieves pressure on the treatment works, with increased personnel working in the local area looking for an potential issues.

One example of an issue that may arise is blockages on the network and everyone can do their bit to prevent this by remembering to only flush the 3Ps (pee, poo and paper), and never pour cooking fats or grease down sink.

Last year alone, South West Water cleared over 6,000 sewer blockages, 75% of which were caused by flushed wipes or fats, oils and grease (FOG). With the region’s population almost doubling during peak holiday season, the company has issued a reminder to everyone to help keep sewers clear and protect the environment.