Severn Trent pledges £250m investment on 167 storm overflows in Shropshire
A water company has revealed plans to spend more than £250m on storm overflows to cut the amount of sewage spilled into rivers and waterways.
Severn Trent, which has faced major criticism over the discharge of sewage into waterways, said the money will be spent over a 25-year period, up to 2050.
It said the move was part of plans to 'reduce activations from storm overflows across the county', and would improve river health in Shropshire.
The firm said that a total of 167 storm overflows in Shropshire will undergo investment – which could range from increasing the capacity of its storage tanks to introducing what are described as "green nature-based solutions".
The company said it is also investing to ensure rivers are monitored closer than ever before with 100 per cent of its storm overflows with monitors.
The firm said it was "analysing around 300m pieces of data a year" to decide where it is most important that the money is spent.
It said the investment for Shropshire forms part of a wider £4.4bn injection into 2,472 storm overflows across the Severn Trent region, as part of the water company’s 'Storm Overflow Action Plan' (SOAP).
The company said the aim is to "reduce the number of spills into water courses across the county, ensuring that by 2040 no overflow will spill more than 10 times in an average year in high priority areas, and in all areas by 2045".
Bob Stear, Severn Trent Chief Engineer said: “This is a huge long-term investment plan for Shropshire, improving storm overflows and bringing benefits to rivers now and during the coming years.
“Today’s announcement marks another significant milestone in our drive to deliver real improvements in river health. This is why we launched Get River Positive that has already delivered great results, despite the region having experienced seven named storms between September and December, contributing to some of the wettest months on record.
"And we know there is still more to do, which is why this investment is so important – not just to us, but to our region’s rivers and the communities they serve.”
Severn Trent said it has already "committed to significant investment in Shropshire".
It said £78m is being spent to improve the water quality along more than 50km of river in Shropshire and Warwickshire and help move two stretches – on the rivers Teme and Leam) towards 'bathing quality' by 2025.
The company said it had also launched an £11.5 million investment programme at six sewage treatment works across Shropshire to further improve river health in the area, including Monkmoor Sewage Treatment Works.
Severn Trent said that as the schemes progress more detail will be shared on what action is planned for every storm overflow involved.
A live ‘Event Duration Monitor’ map is due to be launched later this year.
