Turning the Tide details announced

On the eve of the bathing season South West Water has published detailed plans which aim to improve water quality in Lyme Regis.

The improvements which are part of the £760m Turning the Tide involve increasing storm storage and separating rainwater and sewage. By the end of next March new tanks at Horn Bridge, Jericho and the Uplyme Sewage Treatment Works will provide 670,000 litres of extra storage. But this is just 40% of what had been originally proposed.

Works to separate rainwater and sewage, and reduce the risk of discharges into the River Lim, will start later this year.

“We’re pleased that the details of how the improvements will be implemented are now firmed up. This should make a big difference to the problem of sewage in the river, which affects both bathing beaches, so long as South West Water are confident that this reduced amount of storage is sufficient. This is much less than their research last year had indicated was needed”, said Vicki Elcoate of River Lim Action. “We hope that in particular this will benefit Church Cliff beach, redesignated as a bathing beach in 2024 and which has poor water quality”.

The bathing season starts on May 15 until September 30.

During this period the Environment Agency monitors water quality and provides advice on suitability for bathing.

Lyme Regis also suffers from misconnections, broken and leaking pipes from ageing sewage infrastructure. River Lim Action regularly monitors and reports pollution to address these problems.

A Surfers Against Sewage Paddle Out protest about the impact sewage pollution has on water quality is being held in Lyme Regis on Saturday May 16.

Details: https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/about-us/what-we-do/engineering-projects/wastewater/lyme-regis

Action at Uplyme Sewage Treatment Works