Community partnerships key to finding local solutions

As the urgency with which we need to address the climate crisis increases, working with partners and our customers is key to finding local solutions, writes Susan Davy, chief executive of Pennon Group

Last week I was very pleased to speak at a climate event hosted by the MET Office and CCW. It was a brilliant opportunity to come together with others in the sector to talk about how we can adapt, both to minimise our own impact on the environment and mitigate the future pressures that will be placed on us organisations.

One thing was clear from the event – whilst climate change is a global issue, it has many local and community impacts, and it is working together with our customers and our communities that holds the key in making the most difference.

As the largest private employer and business in the region, Pennon takes its societal contribution, extremely seriously.

Our purpose is bringing water to life, supporting the lives of people and the places they love for generations to come. This means we not only focus on what we do, but why and how we do it, and with our unique environment at the heart of what we do.

Running a water company, is effectively running a water recycling system for the region. It sounds simple, but nothing is simple when you are directly working with and are reliant on the natural environment.

In serving our 3.5 million customers, we take water from the rivers, deliver over 700 million litres of water throughout the region, after treating it to make it safe for all. Along the way, over 90% of the water we deliver to customers and communities will end up going down toilets and sinks, and so we collect the waste, treat it again before releasing it back into the environment. And we have to deliver all that, whilst respecting our region and the environment.

We are seeing the impact of climate change here, every single day. Drought, rising temperatures, flooding, rising sea levels, storm surges and coastal erosion are now too frequently becoming part of everyday lives for our customers and communities. Last year, the South West experienced its hottest, driest summer since records began. We are one of only two regions in the UK that are still officially in drought.

Whilst officially in drought, we have experienced flash flooding closing schools, roads, and businesses in recent weeks. These events illustrate the unpredictability of extreme weather conditions which are becoming all too common. Given all this, what our customers and communities expect from us as a responsible and regional water company has changed. We continually find new ways to step up to the challenge, working in partnership.

We continue to invest in innovative solutions to mitigate the impacts of the drought, from repurposing ex-quarries to provide new water resources, to fixing customer side leaks for free, to launching pioneering initiatives such as Save Every Drop, and encouraging everyone to think differently about water usage.

Our current system relies heavily on rainfall, and climate change has shown us we need to develop climate-independent sources of water in Cornwall.

With 860 miles of coastline, desalination is a logical option to explore and forms part of an additional £45 million investment we are making this year in new water resource schemes.

We have found two potential sites for desalination in Cornwall where we are currently running detailed suitability assessments. We are working closely with the Environment Agency and Cornwall Council to get work started as early possible.

We are supporting customers to save water during the drought, from supplying free waterbutts and water saving devices – over 100,000 in total – installing meters and fixing customer-side leaks for free.

We continue to take strides to uncover new water resilience solutions including a 25-year partnership with the University of Exeter. As part of this, we have made a multimillion-pound investment in CREWW – a centre for resilience in environment, water and waste. CREWW is working to resolve some of the most pressing challenges in the sector, not just in the UK, but globally.

We are challenging ourselves to find answers as to how we can ensure there is enough water to cope with population growth and climate change and how we prevent pollution and eliminate microplastics in our water supply.

We are all seeing the impact of climate change and whilst it’s a global challenge, it has many local impacts. We all have a role to play in adapting to the challenge. The actions we are taking mean that we are well positioned for the future, but we know working together with our customers and communities will have the biggest impact.