Cornwall Asked to Help Stop The Drop and Restore Reservoir Reserves

11th November 2022

South West Water has today announced the first of its kind customer incentive scheme, asking everyone in Cornwall to come together to help Stop The Drop in reservoir levels.

Customers in Cornwall will be eligible for a £30 bill credit if Colliford Reservoir reaches 30% storage capacity by 31 December 2022. Colliford is the strategic reservoir serving around 255,000 households in Cornwall. Due to unprecedented demand, alongside the exceptionally hot and dry weather, storage levels within this reservoir fell to their lowest ever recorded levels earlier this year.

While levels in Colliford have started to stabilise and slowly recover, the company is asking everyone to reduce the amount of water they use to help recharge Cornwall’s rivers and reservoirs so there is enough water now, and for next year.

Laura Flowerdew, Chief Customer and Digital Officer, Pennon Group, owner of South West Water, said: “We have been working around the clock to bring new supplies safely online, find and fix more leaks than ever before and help businesses and customers reduce their water usage. These proactive steps have helped river and reservoir levels stabilise across our region and recover in Devon.

However, in Cornwall reservoir levels remain low. That is why we are asking everyone to help Stop The Drop so we can restore reservoir reserves, ensuring we have enough water today and into next year. Our Stop The Drop campaign draws on the collective might of the people of Cornwall who can help by reducing their water usage to secure supplies in Colliford Reservoir. Every one drop saved protects the water we need now.”

Day to day activities around the house can use a lot of water from 50 litres a cycle on a washing machine and up to 9 litres every time you flush the loo, to using 14 litres for a dishwasher cycle or even 30 litres for handwashing dishes.

Small steps can make a big difference:

• If everyone in Cornwall cut their shower time by just 1 minute it would save over 4.5 million litres a day. That’s enough water to supply over 31,000 additional people each day¹
• Simply turning off the tap when brushing your teeth can save approximately 9,000 litres a year. That's the equivalent of 37,000 cups. Or enough water to shower almost 100 times
• A dripping tap wastes around 5,500 litres of water a year

 

As well as offering tips on how to be more water efficient at home, so far this year South West Water has given more than 45,000 water-saving devices to customers ranging from water butts to flow-reducing shower heads. These can be found on their website.

The Stop The Drop incentive is only available for customers within Cornwall where reservoir levels remain low. Reservoir levels in Devon are recovering with average levels in Devon now almost three times as high as the current level in Colliford.

Customers can check reservoir levels on South West Water’s website. If Colliford Reservoir reaches 30% full, all household customers in Cornwall will receive a £30 credit on their accounts which will show on their next bill after the incentive ends.