Other feedback you may want to share with Southern Water
Section 3 of the consultation feedback form gives an opportunity for you to add ‘anything else’ you want to share with Southern Water about the project. This would be a good place to emphasise wider concerns about the Project. This might include making it clear in your response:
- You do not support (or strongly do not support) the Hampshire effluent recycling project.
- Southern Water have not adequately considered all of the alternative options, including better more sustainable alternatives that work with climate change, such as moving river abstractions, collecting and storing more free winter rain water in additional new or extended reservoirs and underground aquifers. For more information on alternatives click here.
- Your shock that 385 emails (including your own if you emailed your September 2024 response indicating you did not support effluent recycling) were ignored by Southern Water when collating the numbers for the summary of the 2024 consultation responses. This resulted in inaccurate and misleading information being published and shows a contempt for customers and those who took the time to respond.
- The Hampshire effluent recycling project does not represent best value for customers or the environment.
- Southern Water indicated in their Ofwat Gate 3 report on the effluent recycling project that the reservoir will be kept topped up to near winter levels. This is not acceptable, seasonal drops in water level to mirror that of a more natural environment are essential to optimising the biodiversity benefit of the reservoir, as planned for the original spring fed reservoir.
- Portsmouth Water have committed publicly to no loss of benefit, including biodiversity benefit, at the reservoir, when compared to what would have been delivered by the original ‘classic’ spring fed reservoir proposal if effluent recycling is to go ahead. The change in geochemistry, increase in salinity, temperature and number of contaminants of concern being discharged into the reservoir, day-on-day, as a result of effluent recycling will have detrimental effects on the reservoirs biodiversity potential. As a result, Portsmouth Water should not permit recycled effluent to be discharged onto the reservoir.
- Don’t support the construction of the Water Recycling Plant and associated infrastructure on the Broadmarsh landfill site, where construction will open up new pathways for contaminated leachate to reach Langstone Harbour both during construction and operation. It will also have adverse impacts on the coastal landscape and views, further urbanising the north coast of this internationally important wetland (SPA, SAC, Ramsar, SSSI)
- An alternative site for the WRP should be identified as a priority. The previous alternative site assessment was not robust.
- There has been inadequate engagement with customers as to the acceptability of recycling final effluent from sewage works to produce drinking water.
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