WATER pollution incidents in the south west have halved in the first half of 2025, new data reveals.

According to research conducted by South West Water, internal sewer flooding to homes and businesses has reduced by 68% in the past five years, with external flooding down by 24% as part of company efforts to cut down storm overflows. There has also been a focus on reducing overflows at beaches, achieving a 20% reduction in bathing water spills since 2020.

The water utility company reports that across the region, homes and businesses are now less likely to experience flooding than in any other part of the UK.

As result of multi-million-pound investment - a year ahead of the government’s target - 100% of South West Water’s 1,342 storm overflows are now fitted with Event Duration Monitors which record data at least every 15 minutes, with some sites capturing updates every two minutes and others as often as every 10 seconds.

The company is also set to spend £760-million to reduce storm overflows across the region over the next five years.

Richard Price, managing director of Wastewater Services at South West Water, said: “Our plan is working. We are one of the few water companies to reduce our number of incidents last year and in the first half of 2025, we have more than halved pollution incidents compared to the same period in 2024.

“We know we need to do more to fight the impact of climate change, and make our infrastructure future proofed to reduce the impact on homes, businesses and our region and that’s why we’re investing a record £760-million in storm overflows alone over the next five years.

“No-one wants to improve our performance more than the 4,000 brilliant colleagues who live and work in the regions we support.”