A Devon swimmer is taking South West Water to court over sewage discharged into the sea which she claims have harmed her health and stopped her daily swims at Exmouth beach. Jo Bateman, 62, initially stopped paying the sewage portion of her water bill in protest at the spills before she decided to take more extreme action.
The retired NHS physiotherapist has now submitted an action to the Small Claims Court for “loss of amenity”. She alleged illegal spills into the sea at Exmouth means she has lost access to the sea which has harmed her wellbeing.
Her fight has been dubbed the 'next Post Office scandal' and she hopes a win could open the floodgates for other swimmers to make a claim - forcing water companies into action over sewage.
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She is asking for £379.50 compensation, including the court cost of £50 to make the claim. Not only does she want to set a precedent for other swimmers, but she worries about the impact the sewage spills have on tourism and the environment.
A spokesperson for South West Water said: “We are unable to respond to individual cases, however we take our responsibility to the environment very seriously and are investing record amounts to reduce the use of permitted storm overflows across the region, including circa £38 million earmarked for Exmouth up to 2030.”
But mum-of-two Jo said: “I'm not doing this just for me - it’s about everybody who wants to use the sea and it’s the environmental impact of what they're doing. Sea swimming is a huge boost to my adrenaline, dopamine and endorphins – I’ve halved my dose of anti-depressants since I started wild swimming.
“If I don't swim for a week I can feel the effect on my mental health - I can feel myself sinking. I thought I can’t sit back and do nothing so I said I would withhold the sewage part of my water bill but lots of people are doing that and it’s not changing anything. I decided there was no other option than action through the small claims court.
“The World Health Organisation advise not swimming for 48 hours after a sewage dump which would have added up to over 120 days - over a third of the year. A lot of those are legal spills so I’ve claimed for days where I believe it was not a permitted spill.
“They really need to be held to account and it’s not happening, they waffle their way out of everything, they’re not trustworthy – I call it corporate gaslighting.”
She moved to Exmouth in 2018 so she could swim year-round in the hopes it would benefit her mental and physical health. She says when she first moved down she was unaware of the sewage spills, but has been missing swims for three years due to the issue.
She started withholding the wastewater payment on her water bill in early 2023. But says the threats of bailiffs and County Court Judgements by South West Water left her no choice but to start paying again.
However, she still felt passionately about the cause and has now taken the decision to withhold payment again as well as take court action.
She says there were 30 days over the Christmas period where she was unable to swim due to the sewage spills and is claiming for 54 days that she was unable to swim in total. She worked out that if she’d swum in her local pool on each of those days, it would have cost her £6 per swim, or £324.
“Tourists come here year-round to use beach and swim in the sea - we don’t have any other industry, we just have tourism and that’s hugely important for income,” said Jo.
“South West Water claims spills only happen during heavy rain but there were a number of spills that didn’t follow heavy rain.
“They're there to make money so why would they invest in infrastructure – they've made a point that between now and 2030 they plan on investing £38 million on upgrading infrastructure. Why weren’t they investing those millions 10, 20 or 30 years ago - then we wouldn’t be in this position now.”
