News

Severn Trent is supporting The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Water Safety and Drowning Prevention week by reminding visitors to Draycote Water visitor site, that swimming in reservoirs can kill.

The company is urging people to keep out, to keep safe at the popular Warwickshire reservoir.

Tom Crawford from Severn Trent says: “When it’s a nice day and with the weather getting better, we’ll start to see more people venture into the water to cool off or have a paddle, but this is such a dangerous thing to do.  The water can look really tempting, especially when it’s a warm, sunny day – much like what we’ve been having lately. But this can lead to a serious risk to life.

”Every year, Severn Trent have to issue warnings and reminders to visitors about not swimming in the water, but still people ignore the warning signs and put their life at risk.

“People don’t realise just how deep and unpredictable our reservoirs can be. They can be as deep as six-double decker buses and freezing in temperature. We have water being pumped in and out of our reservoirs, creating really strong currents which aren’t always noticeable. Even if you are a strong swimmer, they’ll easily over power you and you can find yourself in trouble.”

The water company, which owns twelve reservoirs across Derbyshire, Leicestershire, mid-Wales and the Midlands, say that their reservoirs are built with the sole purpose of supplying water to their customers, and not for swimming.

“There’s still plenty of things to do at Draycote and our other sites, we always encourage visitors to come enjoy the lovely views and take part in the various activities that are on, but please be safe and stay out of the water.”