Raw sewage flowed into River Dart for thousands of hours, Devon MP says

Raw sewage was pumped into a Devon river for more than 3,500 hours in a single year, according to figures highlighted by a local MP.

That means sewage was flowing into one of the county’s landmark waterways, connected to the River Dart, for around 40 per cent of the year.

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South Devon Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden said the figures showed that the UK water industry was “fundamentally broken”.

She was speaking during a debate at Westminster on the Water (Special Measures) Act, which promises a tougher stance on the country’s privatised water industry.

However, Ms Voaden said the legislation failed to deliver the fundamental change needed to fix the industry, arguing that the proposals did not go far enough to prevent sewage dumping.

In 2024, storm overflows at the Harbertonford Wastewater Treatment Works discharged into the Harbourne River for more than 3,500 hours, meaning thousands of gallons of raw sewage made their way into the River Dart, which rises on Dartmoor.

The same storm overflow has been activated again since 11 January in response to heavy rainfall.

“Our water industry is fundamentally broken, yet the government’s Water White Paper ignores the work needed to repair it,” said Ms Voaden. 

“People in South Devon are fed up with our environment being ravaged by corporate greed.

“The situation is so dire that nothing less than root-and-branch reform will do. That is why the Liberal Democrats are calling for a new ownership model where water companies are mutually owned by customers and professionally managed.

“We are also calling on the Government to force water companies to record and publish the volume of sewage they dump, not just the duration of spills. We cannot bring an end to the sewage scandal without reliable data to hold water companies accountable.”

Ms Voaden also criticised the water regulator Ofwat, which she said was failing to protect the public interest.

She drew attention to the May 2024 cryptosporidium outbreak, which left around 17,000 properties in Kingswear and Brixham under a “boil your water” notice for up to two months.

Ms Voaden said local people were frustrated that the then chief executive of South West Water’s parent company, Susan Davy, later received a share bonus of £191,000, bringing her total pay package for that year to £803,000.

“Ofwat banned six water companies from paying executive bonuses, but I was shocked to see that South West Water was not one of them,” said the MP. 

“That is a clear illustration of why Ofwat must be replaced without delay.”