Plans for desalination plant in Cornwall delayed

The desalination plant will take seawater from St Austell Bay

Plans to take seawater and turn it into drinking water in Cornwall have been delayed until the start of summer 2024.

South West Water (SWW) announced in March it was planning to have two desalination plants by this September.

The company has now confirmed it is planning one, at Par, with seawater taken from St Austell Bay.

SWW added that the completion date for this plant had been set back due to land sale issues.

However, Greenpeace said SWW should prioritise fixing leaks, adding that desalination should be seen as "a last resort".

'Boost resilience'

David Harris, SWW's drought and resilience director, said the project would "boost resilience" against climate change.

"We are pleased to confirm Par as the location of our planned desalination plant, which will be capable of providing up to 30 million litres of additional drinking water for customers in Cornwall to boost resilience in the face of climate change," he said.

"We've made great progress since announcing our plans and have been working closely with our regulators and other key stakeholders to ensure we are delivering the project in the most responsible way.

"This has involved tailoring our approach to be sure we are removing any potential risks to the local environment wherever possible."

The plans involve drawing seawater from St Austell Bay to the plant in Par before pumping brine - a by-product of the desalination process - more than 2km (1.2 miles) back out into the sea.

'Plethora of problems'

Doug Parr, from Greenpeace, said desalination was "not a silver bullet".

He said: "It's got a plethora of its own problems, including high energy use and the creation of high-salinity brine that needs disposing of.

"Leaky infrastructure is wasting up to a trillion litres of water a year in the UK.

"The government and South West Water should first prioritise fixing this, rather than reaching for answers that could generate more problems than solutions."

There are currently desalination plants in the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands, along with a plant in London.