SOUTH West Water has made improvements to reduce storm overflow spills at its wastewater treatment works in Fraddon, which is one of its highest spilling sites in Cornwall.

The investment at the facility in December of last year has delivered improvements to the site’s performance so far, cutting storm overflow spills by 40 per cent in January 2025, compared to January 2024.

South West Water has achieved this reduction by installing a storm storage tank at Fraddon Treatment Works which holds excess flows during heavy rainfall and reduces the amount of times the storm overflow operates.

The water company repurposed an existing lagoon into a storm tank to create the necessary storage to significantly reduce the frequency of overflows rather than building entirely new infrastructure.

Andy Pettifer, South West Water’s operations manager for west Cornwall, said: “The improvements at Fraddon show how targeted investment can deliver real environmental benefits.

“By upgrading existing infrastructure and adding new storm storage capacity, we’ve been able to significantly reduce spills in the area.”

These improvements are part of a wider investment programme aimed at reducing storm overflows and improving water quality across the South West.

South West Water is working to become the first water company to meet the government’s target of achieving less than 10 spills per overflow per year – a decade ahead of target.