Environmental investigations

By gathering data through our scientific investigations, we can better understand how our business affects the environment before trialling solutions.

About our investigations

Our environmental investigations are wide-ranging and can involve monitoring, surveys and assessments to help us:

  • determine the impact our sewage treatment assets have on watercourses and groundwater sources, and the habitats and species they support
  • understand the impact our water abstractions have on the water environment and how these impacts can be mitigated
  • establish how our assets contribute towards bathing and shellfish water quality, and if improvements need to be made
  • work out how species use our land and sites, how our habitats might change and how we can best manage sites to enhance wildlife
  • understand the occurrence of emerging substances of concern in effluent, including monitoring for chemicals and other less well-understood pollutants, which can include pharmaceuticals and microplastics.

Past and ongoing investigations

We have completed a large number of investigations over many years and have an extensive set of investigations taking place over the AMP7 period (2020-25).

To find out more about the investigations, including summaries of either the findings from past investigations or our plans for ongoing investigations, see the map below.

View our environmental investigations map

Findings from these investigations are reported to the Environment Agency, Natural England and other stakeholders, and are also fed into our business plans.

For more information, please email us at env.info@wessexwater.co.uk.