SOUTHERN Water has spent millions of pounds on cleaning up the sea in Sussex, with one of its latest projects being the £36 million stormwater tunnel below Brighton and Hove seafronts.

Now it intends to spend at least £60 million on upgrading the 21-year-old sewage treatment works at Portobello near Telscombe Cliffs. This deals with all the sewage produced by Brighton and Hove and it is vital that the new treatment works is right for the 21st century. It must include primary and secondary treatment which will get rid of much of the pollution. It may have to include ultra violet treatment to conform with stricter guidelines next century. Southern Water has to consider shareholders as well as its consumers. But it may well find it is cheaper in the long run to do the whole job now than to be forced to add extra treatment later. Clean seas are vital for the health of everyone who uses them and the public is now insistent that work should be done to achieve them.

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