Progress

Major Progress in Our Water Testing Campaign

SOUTHERN WATER HAVE ARRIVED!

We’re very grateful for the coverage of our water testing in the local press. The Lymington Times (3 October edition) highlighted our findings, linking them with a report produced for national parks that cites the poor state of the New Forest’s rivers. The Southampton Daily Echo reported the story on Wednesday evening, October 1, and their reporting has been crucial in drawing attention to the problem. In fact, it was only after the Daily Echo became involved that Southern Water began to take notice. The Bournemouth Echo followed up on Friday evening, October 3.

We thank Lymington and Pennington Town Council for their ongoing support, and the many local people who have signed the petition to help bring this issue to light. Your voices are making a real difference.

Since the newspapers went to press, there has been a major development. Southern Water have now admitted that there are foul connections into the surface water system in Bridge Road, on which our outlet lies — confirming that our data is probably correct. Their illegal connections team is now investigating the source of these misconnections, while Southern Water tankers have been removing the foul flow from the surface water line to limit further pollution. (See photo)

This represents a significant breakthrough. It’s the first time Southern Water have acknowledged that the contamination we’ve been recording has a real and identifiable cause.

We’re also pleased that Christchurch Water Watchers will be joining us at our next round of testing to compare results. Christchurch harbour has some problems but they use more sophisticated equipment, and this collaboration will help verify our findings and strengthen the case for long-term solutions.

This is an important step forward — but it’s only the beginning. We will not stop until E. coli is no longer entering the Lymington River.

If you haven’t yet signed the petition, please do so now and add your voice to the call for clean and safe water.

👉Sign the petition here