South West Water (SWW) has said it is investing more than £700 million to reduce storm overflows as part of a £3.2 billion plan over the next five years.

The company’s ‘Turning the Tide’ initiative aims to meet the government’s target of fewer than 10 spills per year.

The programme is supported by Amplify, South West Water’s engineering alliance, which focuses on reducing storm overflows and maintaining bathing water quality. The company also pledges to eliminate storm overflows at bathing and shellfish waters by 2030.

CEO Susan Davy stressed the company’s commitment to long-term improvements, acknowledging that reducing storm overflows “will take time”.

The company meanwhile says that it is meeting the government’s target of reducing spills a decade ahead of schedule.

However, to fund the upgrades SWW will be hiking bills from April this year, in line with other water firms across the country, resulting in a 23 per cent jump by 2030.

Last July, the Environmental Agency (EA) revealed that SWW was the worst performing water company for pollution incidents.

EA officers subsequently carried out inspections on 215 SWW sites in Devon and Cornwall, flagging up issues such as sewage treatment works not being compliant with permits and ensuring measures were put in place to address concerns about storm overflows.

In a separate development, environmental charity the Friends of the Dart (FoD) this month revealed alarming levels of pollution in the River Dart following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

Antibiotics, antidepressants, laxatives, blood pressure medication and painkillers were among the 54 toxic substances detected in the water, according to the FOD.

Early data also suggested the presence of antimicrobial resistance genes, particularly at Steamer Quay, raising concerns about the potential spread of resistant bacteria.