Years of Trout in the Trym reaching out to Wessex Water, including walking them along the river to show what we’re doing, are bearing fruit at last. Letters hitting local doormats now explain about surveys being carried out before work to improve Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs).
Using Rivers Trust data we’ve calculated the plans should cut sewage spills into the Trym by over half.
We’ll keep very close to this to check that the plans are actually delivered, but so far so good. Cleaner water, fewer bad smells, more invertebrates, birds, fish – yay!
The letters from Wessex Water include this information:
Surveys for environmental improvements, Westbury on Trym
Wessex Water is planning a series of storm overflow improvement projects throughout Bristol over the next few years, including work in the Canford Park area of Westbury on Trym.
These projects are part of our programme to reduce storm overflow operation and improve protection of the environment by storing excess storm water before returning it to the sewer system when a storm recedes to be piped to a water recycling centre for treatment.
Overflows are designed as a relief valve to protect homes from flooding. If there is too much rainfall in the system, the overflow automatically discharges into watercourses.
The scheme is part of a significant investment in Bristol alone to reduce how often storm overflows operate. You can read more about how we’re investing to reduce the impact storm overflows have on rivers, the sea and the environment at wessexwater.co.uk/overflows.
All of these projects are at early outline design stage, with designs being further developed over the course of the next year.
To help inform the plans for the Canford Park area, a number of land mapping and environmental surveys will take place during March and April 2026.