Ian McAulay, Southern Water’s Chief Executive, said: "We are absolutely committed to playing our part in reducing any harm from storm overflows, a commitment we share with all water companies. That’s why we are investing £1.7bn by 2025 to improve the capacity and capability of our wastewater network across the region, which will reduce the number of releases from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). We have spent £13m on improvements at 29 of our wastewater treatment works and plan to invest another £13m by 2025 to help further reduce the risk of storm overflows at a further 36 wastewater treatment sites.
“We are actively involved in the national Storm Overflows Taskforce and committed to working with local partners to help eliminate the harm caused to the environment from CSO releases. We strongly support the close collaboration that's needed across multiple sectors to bring about the long-term change in the health of our rivers and coastal waters that everyone wants to see."