A WATER company has been given the green light from Government to increase its investment in driving down the use of storm overflows amid controversy over discharge of untreated groundwater into River Test.

Southern Water has received Government backing for extra £10m investment in cutting storm overflows.

The short-term £10m boost, ratified by Defra and paid for by shareholders, has to be spent before spring 2025.

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Southern Water said the agreement will allow its Clean Rivers and Seas Task Force to further expand its work in rolling out nature-based and engineering solutions so that sewers are no longer overloaded by surface and groundwater, leading to storm overflows.

The company said the cash will go towards expansion of optimisation activity; real-time digital wastewater catchment control; additional surface water pathfinder catchment; additional programme of ground water infiltration reduction of both customer/private and public sewers; and accelerated construction programme for wetlands benefitting Chichester Harbour.

 This comes in the wake of allegation by riverkeepers and environment activists that Southern Water is allegedly pumping untreated wastewater into River Test from its Fullerton treatment plant.

The activists are planning to organise a peaceful protest outside the Fullerton plant on Monday, March 18.

Southern Water said the £10m will be added to the Clean Rivers and Seas Plan which aims to spend £1.5bn between 2025 and 2035 to cut storm overflows more widely.  

Southern Water’s environment and innovation director, Nick Mills, said: “This additional funding will help us expand and accelerate our programme of work reducing the reliance on storm overflows.

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“It is really important that the Clean Rivers and Seas Task Force continues to ramp up its delivery of sustainable catchment solutions that make a real difference to communities and the environment.”

Southern Water claims the task force solutions is so far already making a real difference in pilot areas.

It said it has seen an 85 per cent cut in the use of tankers to remove groundwater from sewers in the Pan Parishes of Hampshire.