From Ofwat

Dear All As you may know, when signing the petition ‘South West Water: Stop discharging untreated sewage in our bathing waters’ on Change.org, alerts are sent to the organisation you are petitioning. In this instance your petition is being received by Ofwat, and not South West Water. I believe this may have been done in error. I am responding on behalf of Ofwat, as the economic regulator of water and sewerage sector in England and Wales, and not South West Water. Ofwat does not manage or regulate South West Water’s actions in respect to overflow of sewage into bathing waters. If you have concerns you should contact South West Water (website) and the Environment Agency’s 24 hour incident line on 0800 80 70 60. The Environment Agency can investigate when a spill occurs and if they find that South West Water has failed in their duties to the environment, then they can take action. We understand the concern that untreated sewerage being released into the sea causes. That is why since 1989 South West Water has spent over £2billion on improving the sewerage system to significantly reduce the risk of such spills occurring. We have contacted South West Water about this spill and understand that it followed an increase in rainfall in the region, which would have flooded people’s homes if not released into the sea. Over the next 5 years South West Water will continue to invest millions of pounds into their sewerage network to reduce even further the possibilities of such events happening in the future. At privatisation of the water and sewerage sector in 1989, there were only 12 beaches awarded Blue Flag status – now there are more than 200 beaches gaining Blue Flag or Seaside Award status across England and Wales. Since 1989 £116 billion has been invested in the water and sewerage sector, which has gone to improving, amongst other things, our natural environment, including beaches and other water courses. We will keep in contact with South West Water to provide them with the final number of responses to this petition. I hope that I have been able to clarify the situation and also direct you to other organisations that would be able to provide further information and advice in this area. Yours sincerely Simon Markall Head of Public Affairs Ofwat Posted on July 09, 2014 Reply: Karin Howey HAYLE, UNITED KINGDOM about 10 hours ago Liked 0 Many thanks for your reply. I was aware that I had put your email address on the petition. This was because I could not find an email address anywhere for SWW and the petition could not be started until this box was filled. I also figured OFWAT the water regulators would be the next best thing. The fact that SWW continue to use the increased rainfall excuse is a joke...we are having the hottest , driest spell for ages and comparitive rainfall charts for the last month clearly show this. If their systems are so archaic and cannot cope with so little rain isn't it obvious they need to re-invest and upgrade them. Hundreds of new houses are planned for Camborne which will further burden the system not to mention global warming so this is only going to get worse. My family have been affected with stomach bugs and sickness for years as a result of sewage in the sea and it is clear now that everyone has had enough. There are over 2,500 signatures in just over 24hours and we are only going to get louder until real action is taken. I would be delighted if you could make sure this reaches SWW who are not so easy to contact. Yours sincerely. Karin Howey