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Improvements being made with city’s water treatment works but more to do says City MP

By 30 July 2018September 8th, 2022No Comments

Stephen Morgan MP began Parliamentary recess by getting stuck into local issues with Southern Water

As MPs across the country headed off from Westminster for the summer, Portsmouth South’s Stephen Morgan wasted no time in getting stuck into the less glamorous side of political life.

Stephen paid a visit to Budd’s Farm, Southern Water’s Sewage Treatment Plant, to view the site, hear about Southern’s ‘Keep it Clear’ campaign, and share issues from his postbag.

Budds Farm Wastewater Treatment Works treats the wastewater from homes across Portsmouth, Havant, Hayling Island, Cosham, Paulsgrove, Waterlooville, Horndean and Hambledon.

It serves nearly 410,000 people and during normal weather conditions treats almost 109 million litres of wastewater per day,enough to fill nearly 47 Olympic-sized swimming pools. During storm conditions it can treat up to 200 million litres per day.

During the visit Stephen learnt about the company’s improvements to its services and investment in infrastructure after being fined £150,000 for a number of ‘illegal discharges’ into Langstone Harbour which is a site of special scientific interest several years ago.

Commenting on the visit Stephen Morgan MP, said:

“It was very useful to get over to Budds Farm to talk with Southern Water and see first-hand their work treating hundreds of millions of litres of Portsmouth’s water.

I was assured to hear the investment and improvements the company has made are making a difference, and understand the further actions they intend to take.

Our city relies on this plant to keep our region functioning and our water supply clean; the visit also provided me with a valuable opportunity to tell Southern Water all about the issues and concerns faced by people in Portsmouth – from bills to blockages”.

Of interest too was Southern Water’s new plastics policy that not only sets targets for plastic waste reduction, but also works with suppliers to increase recycling rates and fund academic studies into the removal and recycling of plastic waste.

Stephen added:

One of the main issues people in Portsmouth are writing to me about at the moment is the amount of plastic waste in the Solent and our nation’s waterways. 

We’ve become reliant on single-use plastics and we must do more to reduce plastic waste in our communities and workplaces. 

Every business can make their mark and I am pleased to hear about Southern Water’s collaboration with our city’s university to intervene and prevent plastics from entering the Solent’s environment”.