Solent Protection Society

There are around 300 Southern Water storm overflows which SPS has identified as discharging for tens of thousands of hours per year, either directly into the Solent or into the tidal rivers and harbours that feed into it.

Of these, around 12% account for an average of nearly 80% of the total number of hours spilled, a pattern we’ve observed consistently in each of the last three years of Environment Agency published data. In the 2022 EA data, just 37 of those outfalls accounted for the highest number of hours of spillage, confirming our long held view that priority action taken on these individual CSOs would significantly reduce the overall impact of spills from Southern Water’s outfalls.

Selected earlier articles

The posts below cover several of the Society’s particular focus areas. To view further posts, please use the menu options above, the ‘recent posts’ links and the search box elsewhere on this home page.

We’ve written before of the science and assumptions about sea-level rise and flood maps. This post tries to bring it nearer to home with some advice about how worried you should be if you live near the coast.

While we often focus on the quality of water in the Solent, we should not lose sight of impact of pollution upstream in the river basins. This post takes a view.

SPS takes a dip into the Solent Freeport Tax Site maps and uncovers rather more questions than answers. It’s a long read but you might just find it interesting, no matter which side of the Solent you’re on.

We look at what **really** needs to be done by Southern Water **and the regulators** in order to demonstrate the scale of the CSO problem.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image-9.png — Hurst Castle – understanding the bigger picture. A look at the evolution of Hurst Spit at the Solent’s western gateway.

Is there a housing development near you, if so, what is its **environmental** impact?

Southern Water’s ‘Beachbuoy’ spill monitoring web page is a significant improvement over its predecessor. We’d still like it to go further though.

Solent Protection Society is extremely disappointed at the actions taken by the Government in voting against the House of Lords amendment to the Environment Bill.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 1a-1.jpg — Pollution in all its many forms. Commentary from the SPS Council.

The Solent Protection Society is a charitable incorporated organisation intent on safeguarding and preserving the amenities of the Solent environment for the benefit of future generations. The Society was originally set up in 1956 as a joint initiative of CPRE and the RYA in response to proposals to site a nuclear power station on the Isle of Wight and an oil refinery at the mouth of the Hamble river. More than sixty years later, the Solent Protection Society continues to campaign on important issues of planning, conservation and maritime safety affecting the Solent Region.

We welcome issues and concerns raised by our members and apply the breadth of experience of our Council Members, working with our networks within peer organisations and official bodies to secure resolution.

To understand how membership of the Society might help you, or simply to contact us, please explore the options on the main menu. We also welcome applications from existing members who believe they may have relevant experience to offer and a commitment of time to join the Council in our activities. For further details, please email the Secretary.