14/04/2011

A British water and sewerage company is calling for official action to help the country adopt a new cheaper and greener approach towards safeguarding drinking water supplies, following successes in working with farmers to stop pollutants entering water sources.

In a report published today (Thursday 14 April), Wessex Water revealed the results of a successful five-year study, in which farmers were encouraged to change how and where they applied agricultural chemicals close to sources used to supply water to about 250,000 of the company’s customers.

The study concluded that this catchment management approach was highly effective, good for the environment and just 15% of the cost of the traditional approach to tackling the problem; which is to build treatment plants. Costing up to £7m each, these plants are expensive to build and operate, have a large carbon footprint and provide no benefit to the wider environment.

Luke de Vial, head of water resources and supply for Wessex Water, said: “Our five-year study shows that costly treatment centres generally aren’t the best way to safeguard water supplies from nitrates and pesticides. Instead, we’ve found that in many areas, high water quality can be secured equally well by careful management of how and when farm chemicals are applied. This can also be achieved at much lower costs to the environment, our customers’ pockets, the company and our investors.”

Water company demands UK Government act on report's findings

As a result of the findings, Wessex Water now wants the Government, its agencies and industry regulators to make catchment management the preferred method for lowering the levels of pesticides and nitrates entering drinking water sources such as rivers or natural underground reservoirs, known as aquifers.

Mr de Vial explained: “The potential for savings is so significant we believe the time has come for the Government, its agencies and the industry regulators to take action to ensure that catchment management becomes the main tool for managing raw water quality, not treatment.”

Wessex Water’s report, ‘Managing Water – Managing Land’ says that regulator Ofwat should replace incentives for water companies to develop treatment-based solutions with rewards for lower cost, sustainable, catchment management schemes.

Other recommended actions include improved incentives for farmers to avoid causing water pollution, probably via the existing agri-environment schemes managed by Defra, and placing greater importance on protecting water supplied to the public, through reforms to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The company’s calls have been welcomed by farmers and by Our Rivers, the campaign to protect UK watercourses led by WWF-UK, RSPB, the Angling Trust and the Salmon and Trout Association.

Farmer Stuart Holland from Higher Kingston Farm near Dorchester who has been working with Wessex Water for several years says: “When we were first approached by Wessex Water, we were a bit hesitant about opening up our books to a water company but the whole project has been very worthwhile for everyone, reducing our costs, increasing productivity and lowering the amount of nitrates which get into drinking water sources.

“One of the biggest advantages of the scheme for our farm is that we’ve been able to talk one-to-one with a friendly adviser who genuinely understands farming and knows that farmers don’t set out to create water problems deliberately.

“We’re much more aware of how the way we apply fertilisers on the farm can affect drinking water sources and what we can do to reduce the potential risks. We’ve saved money by making substantial reductions in our use of artificial fertilisers, which is important because the prices have been rising steeply. We’re also making much better use of the organic fertiliser we produce on the farm, which we didn’t really appreciate the value of before. We’re spending less on nutrients yet getting more benefit because applications are better timed, applied in the right amounts and only where they’re really needed.”

Wessex Water was the first UK water company to adopt catchment management and is still the only one using a dedicated team of agriculturally-trained advisers to work with landowners and managers on anti-pollution measures.

The area the company serves is predominantly rural and includes Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and some parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire where high nitrate levels affect more than 20 of its water supply sources. While in recent years the company has built four new treatment plants to remove nitrite and 11 sites now have large carbon filters to remove pesticides, its catchment management work in 15 areas has reduced levels to the extent that construction of further plants or advanced treatment has not been required.

Ralph Underhill, coordinator of the Our Rivers campaign, said: "The innovative work being carried out by Wessex Water with farmers is great news for threatened river wildlife.

“Many wildlife species are struggling in rivers and other waters degraded by chemical pollution, so it is vital that water companies across the UK follow Wessex Water’s lead in forging partnerships like this and tackling the problem at its source rather than using more costly and energy intensive means of removing it later.

“The UK government should be pushing to ensure the Common Agricultural Policy does more to protect water resources. Only by addressing drinking water quality issues at their source can we ensure a sustainable future for farming, water resources and the rivers we care about."

Wessex Water’s catchment management report - Managing Water, Manager Land, can be viewed online at www.wessexwater.co.uk/ourvision.