A £5.5MILLION project is under way, in the hopes to deliver better drinking water to customers in Bude and North Cornwall.

South West Water is investing £5.5million at Tamar Lakes Water Treatment Works, near Holsworthy, to install additional manganese removal filters, five new granulator activated carbon filters and a state-of-the-art ultraviolet disinfection system.

Manganese, which occurs naturally in the reservoir water, can cause discolouration within the water network, so it is important the treatment is improved to ensure the appearance of drinking water to customers is consistently good.

Granular activated carbon (GAC) is a specially engineered and extremely porous material with a large internal surface area; just one teaspoon has the same surface area as a football pitch.

Due to its large surface area and special surface chemistry, it can remove natural and manmade organic matter, sometimes present in Tamar Lake reservoir, which supplies the water treatment works.

Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection used UV light to destroy harmful bacteria and viruses sometimes found in the untreated reservoir water.

Chris Rockey, head of Drinking Water Quality, said: “We already have some of the best tap water in the country, but this major investment in additional treatment will deliver even better drinking water to our customers in Bude and the surrounding areas.”

Water that has passed through the GAC and UV treatment processes will start being introduced into supply from March 2017.

Chris added: “In the very short term, the smell or taste of chlorine may become more noticeable to some customers. For this reason, we will bring the new filters on line one at a time and blend the new and improved water with the water currently produced by the works, to ensure a smooth transition.”