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Case overview
Jo Bateman tries to swim in the sea off Exmouth every day, because of the huge benefits to her physical and mental health. But in December 2023 this retired physiotherapist couldn’t get into the water for 10 days straight, after a pipe burst and South West Water started driving a fleet of lorries full of untreated sewage to a pumping station that was already overflowing.
Ten tankers transported up to three million litres of untreated sewage a day for the next three days. But they didn’t take it to a nearby sewage treatment works, where it could have been processed. They didn’t take it to sewage treatment works outside Exmouth. They didn’t even take it to a pumping station 2km up the road – a pumping station which wasn’t already overflowing. All of these options could have prevented the spillage, but they likely would have been more expensive. Instead, South West Water drove this untreated sewage straight to a pumping station that was already spilling sewage into the sea, making it unsafe to swim off the beach at Exmouth for 10 days.
We’re supporting Jo in her legal action against South West Water.
Part of campaign:
Right to swim
Fighting to stop water companies putting profit over people