South West Water progresses with new Hawks Tor Reservoir

03rd November 2022

As part of South West Water’s continued investment in water resilience across the region, the company is today applying for a permit to unlock supplies from a new source in Cornwall.

Hawks Tor was a redundant china clay pit on Bodmin Moor purchased by South West Water in March 2022, the brownfield site has been converted into a water source and should be supplying customers this month.

This will be the first reservoir brought online by any water company in the country during the ongoing drought, using the latest technology to secure supplies in the short term and provide greater longer term resilience.

Susan Davy, CEO of Pennon Group which owns South West Water, said: “We continue to deliver on our long-standing commitment to investing in our region’s water resources, building capacity where it is needed most and ensuring long-term water resilience across the region. Having only acquired the site a matter of months ago, Hawks Tor should be supplying customers in November. We continue to take early and proactive actions to ensure the security of water supply for our region during the current drought and into the future.”

The company is investing in new reservoirs and finding innovative ways to collect, store and treat water. This includes Stannon Lake, Porth Reservoir and the most recent acquisition, Hawks Tor. These additional resources will provide up to 30% of Cornwall’s water requirement in the future. This is alongside investment of £27 million in the region’s water grid, ensuring water can be moved to where it’s most needed.

South West Water has today formally applied for a drought permit for Hawks Tor which will allow it to immediately increase water supply to the public and refill Colliford Reservoir through the abstraction of up to 8 million litres of water per day. The permit will also reduce the risk of further restrictions being required in Spring/Summer 2023.

As river and reservoir levels remain low across the region following one of the hottest and driest periods in 130 years, South West Water has also been actively working with customers and businesses to help them save both water and money. The company’s Stop the Drop campaign is encouraging everyone to continue to do their bit to collectively reduce demand to avoid further restrictions and protect reservoir levels as the current drought in the region continues.