On 7 September Southern Water announced “a comprehensive plan” that it claimed demonstrated its commitment to reducing pollution incidents and helping to improve the environment.
“We’re one of the first organisations in the sector to have analysed the challenge in detail and developed a plan like this – and we’re proud of it,” said Dr Nick Mills, Head of Pollution and Flooding Resilience at the utility. “It’s based on extensive data analysis and industry best practice. Our plan of activities aims to deliver zero pollution incidents by 2040.
“We’re very much a company in transformation and have undergone significant cultural changes. This has affected our reported performance in 2019 and the size of the challenge ahead of us. We are confident this plan and future iterations of it will allow us to reduce the number of pollutions incidents.”
The detailed plan has been shared with Defra and the Environment Agency and is published on the company’s website here: https://www.southernwater.co.uk/our-performance/reports/pollution-reduction-programme
The Pollution Incident Reduction Plan forms part of a wider initiative called Environment+, which focuses on people, processes and systems to deliver a water resilient future for the Southern Water region by protecting the natural environment and customers’ properties, said the firm.
There are four themes key to the success of the Pollution Incident Reduction Plan, explained a press release: “Improving the Resilience of Assets and Processes”, “Trusted Monitoring and Analysis”, and “Smart Networks/Fast and Effective Responses” and “Staff and Customer Participation”.
Southern Water Chief Executive Ian McAulay said: “We very clearly understand that in the past Southern Water did not deliver a service that fully prioritised the environment. The pollution incident reduction plan is another indication of our determination to put this right”.
He adds: “However we are not complacent, we know there is more to do and my team, the Board and I are fully committed to continuing to improve our business and deliver the services our customers deserve while fulfilling our purpose to protect and improve the environment upon which we all rely.”
