A sea swimmer is set for a showdown with South West Water (SWW) bosses after taking the company to court over sewage spills on the Devon coast.
Jo Bateman, who is claiming compensation for sewage spills that prevented her taking her daily sea swims, has been invited by an SWW director to meet with her and an “operational colleague” ahead of the court case.
In her invitation to meet with Ms Bateman, an executive from the water company, Laura Flowerdew wrote: “I wanted to reach out to you to see if you would be willing to meet with myself and possibly one of my operational colleagues, to discuss the issues you were highlighting and for us to share more information about the water quality at Exmouth in particular, as well as share the work we’re doing to reduce the need for storm overflows to operate.”
While Ms Flowerdew, who is chief customer and digital officer at the water firm’s parent company Pennon Group, added that the Small Claims Court action was being “dealt with separately by our legal team”, Ms Bateman is concerned that the company may be preparing to make her an offer to settle her case in return for withdrawing her legal action.
“Even if she does make me an offer to settle, I’m not accepting it,” Ms Bateman told i.
“It’s really not about the money. It’s about the principal of South West Water illegally dumping sewage into the sea in Exmouth and all around the cost of Devon and Cornwall.
“I’m only seeking compensation of £379.50, so it’s not about the money either. It’s about holding the company to account.”
Ms Bateman, who tries to swim at Exmouth beach every day throughout the year, is also withholding payment of the sewage part of her water bill in protest at SWW’s ongoing spills.
On Thursday morning, SWW issued alerts for sewage spills in Exmouth and more than 30 other beaches in Devon and Cornwall, despite only a small amount of rainfall on Wednesday evening following a prolonged period of dry weather.
Water companies are permitted to pump sewage into seas and rivers during periods of heavy rainfall to avoid inland flooding and sewage backing up into people’s homes.
However, Ms Bateman added: “It’s been dry here in Exmouth and around the south west for a couple of weeks. Why has a little bit of rain cause yet more sewage being pumped into the sea today. It should not be happening and SWW has failed to invest in preventing it from happening for years. In the meantime, it has paid its shareholders dividends worth hundreds of millions of pounds.”
SWW’s Ms Flowerdew told i her invitation to Ms Bateman was “the right thing to do” and that she hoped she could “help Ms Bateman understand more about the work we have done and are continuing to do in Exmouth”.
Ms Flowerdew added: “We genuinely take these claims seriously and we want to show Ms Bateman and all our customers that we are a team made up of local residents who also care deeply about the beautiful region we live in and bathing waters that surround us.”
SWW is investing £38m into Exmouth’s sewage network by 2030.
The water company is about to launch a roadshow in Exmouth over the coming weeks to let local residents know its investment plans to improve the sewage infrastructure in.
The company is pledging to invest £38m in its pipe and pumping station network in the popular tourist town by 2030.
“That’s still six years away,” said Ms Bateman. “Why have they not invested this money in the network before instead of paying out all those millions to investors. Last year alone they paid out £112m to shareholders while continuing to dump sewage into the sea.”
Mr Bateman is referring to the £112m dividend paid to investors by SWW’s parent company Pennon Group during the year to the end of June 2023.
Last year, the water company was fined £2.15m for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea in Devon and Cornwall.
“That’s peanuts to them,” added Ms Bateman. “Sometimes you have to wonder if South West Water just doesn’t mind paying the fines as they’re a lot less that the money they need to spend fixing the problems.”
In her claim, Ms Bateman details 54 instances when she believes the company illegally dumped sewage into the sea during 2023.
The retired NHS physiotherapist is claiming SWW’s pollution of the Exmouth sea has led to what is legally known as a loss of amenity, which mean she must prove she has been injured.
She previously told i: “I make no secret of the fact that I am on anti-depressants. But since I have been swimming in the sea every day, my doctor has reduced my dose by half.
“The swimming helps me in all sorts of ways, and I believe the sea is an amenity to anyone that wants to enjoy it.”
Earlier this month, i revealed that millions of litres of sewage had been transported to what the Environment Agency called a “failed pumping station” just 200m from Exmouth’s sandy beach.
One campaigner described it as “willful pollution” by SWW. The company confirmed one pump at the site had failed but denied untreated sewage was being discharged into the sea.
Commenting on the Thursday morning’s sewage spill in Exmouth, a spokeswoman for SWW said: “Rainfall over the past 48 hours has caused our storm overflow at Maer Road to activate in line with its permit.
“Our storm overflows in Exmouth and across the region are operating as intended, to protect homes and businesses from flooding.
“We are continuing to deliver improvements in Exmouth by September 2024, to help reduce spills to an average of 10 per year in 2025.”
