Turning the Tide – our action on storm overflows

  Turning the Tide

Finding solutions to reduce storm overflow use

We’re putting solutions in place to make sure storm overflows are used much less. The ambitious Turning the Tide programme will invest £760m to target storm overflows throughout the region, finding tailor-made solutions for each place.

We can’t remove storm overflows altogether – this would mean that if flow in the system was heavy enough, homes and businesses would be flooded with sewage. However, we can address the factors that make them likely to be used.

By 2030, we aim to tackle every storm overflow at a bathing water or shellfish site. Our goal is for each storm overflow to spill no more than 10 times a year.

Building on past progress

In the 1990s, the Clean Sweep initiative transformed the region’s water quality. Before Clean Sweep, around 90% of Devon and Cornwall’s sewage went straight into rivers and seas, untreated. Investment of £13bn in the next two decades brought major improvement.

Water quality at designated bathing waters in this region is now mainly rated ‘excellent’ during bathing season (May-September). We’re exploring ways of monitoring bathing water quality outside of this peak time.

We’re set to further on the progress made through Clean Sweep with Turning the Tide. This programme will make a real difference and deliver the changes customers want to see, including an improvement in year-round bathing water quality.