MP Visits Sewage Treatment Works

Alison Seabeck, MP for Plymouth Moor View, heard about the complex methods used to protect water quality and safely dispose of treated waste water during a visit to South West Water’s Ernesettle Sewage Treatment Works last week.

During the visit Ms Seabeck met Chris Loughlin, Chief Executive, and was given a tour of the facility, which has benefited from South West Water’s commitment to increase investment by 19% over the next 5 years. Ms Seabeck and Mr Loughlin discussed various issues and areas of investment for SWW, and of particular interest to Ms Seabeck was the commitment to protect water quality in the region.

South West Water continues to investigate ways to enhance sewage treatment to help boost bathing water quality further and meet the European Union’s revised bathing water directive which comes into effect in 2015.

Ms Seabeck said: “This is a major site within my constituency, and I know that the management of waste water here can be a concern for many of my constituents. Therefore I am delighted that South West Water is investing in further improving their waste management systems and looking into new methods of doing so. This was a really interesting visit and I look forward to hearing about the further investment they look to make over the next 5 years.”

Chris Loughlin, Chief Executive said: “We were delighted to show Alison the complex operations we carry out every day in order to safely dispose of treated waste water. We play an important role in protecting our environment here in the South West and our investments have resulted in some of the finest bathing waters in Europe. We remain committed to sustaining these standards which is why we’re planning to spend £40million investigating and improving bathing water quality at Plymouth Hoe East and West in the five-year plan to 2020.”