By Press Release
By Mal Butler
Seven Island beaches are among the top 10 in the UK affected by ‘dry spills’, according to a damning new report from Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) published yesterday (Thursday).
SAS’s annual water quality report for the first time reveals evidence that water companies have permitted ‘dry spills’ – discharges of sewage when there has been no rain. And almost a quarter of the total discharges, 32 out of a total of 146 (23 per cent), have occurred around the Isle of Wight.
Beaches at Cowes and Gurnard are at joint first and joint third on the list respectively, while Yaverland, Whitecliff Bay, Shanklin, Seagrove and Shanklin are joint fifth in the top 10 beaches worst affected by the allegedly illegal discharges from Southern Water. Sewage outflows are only permitted in ‘unusually heavy rainfall’, but analysis from SAS suggests regulations were ignored by water companies.
The Southern Water data, used by SAS to compile the report, is based on information available on Beach Buoy, an on-line tool showing storm release discharges, but not for dry spills specifically. Dry spills data in the report has been determined by cross-referencing Met Office data for rainfall with sewage discharge figures from water companies.
Key findings from the report are that 146 dry spills were detected over a 12-month period, with 95 of these at locations where water quality is classified as ‘excellent’; over the same period SAS issued a total of 9,216 sewage pollution alerts via its Safer Seas and Rivers Service (SSRS).
Also, more than a third (39 per cent) of 720 sickness reports analysed by SAS were correlated to sewage discharge alerts, while 63 per cent of sickness cases reported to a doctor were attributed to poor water quality.
Amy Slack, head of campaigns and policy at SAS, said: “Over the last year, the UK public has made clear their disgust at what’s happening to our rivers and seas, and yet water companies continue to pollute at will.“It’s especially alarming to uncover evidence of potentially illegal activity by water companies in the form of ‘dry spills’, which are not permitted under current regulations. Shareholders and CEOs are unashamedly profiteering off pollution.
“Surfers Against Sewage has been campaigning on water quality for the last three decades, making it abundantly clear to water companies that their actions are detrimental to both environmental and public health. Yet water companies are still choosing to pour sewage into the ocean and rivers across the country, making us quite literally sick of sewage.
“The government is complicit in the sewage scandal, failing to enforce and strengthen regulations to protect the health of the UK’s waterways – and the health of its citizens.”
SAS is reiterating six key demands to end sewage discharge into bathing waters by 2030, which are as follows:
An enhanced water-quality testing regime; the establishment of 200 designated inland bathing waters; world-leading water quality legislation with ambitious legally binding targets and well-funded regulators; an end to untreated sewage discharge in all bathing waters and to reduce all untreated sewage discharges by 90 per cent; nature-based solutions to sewage pollution and investment from water companies and other systemic polluters.
According to data from the Environment Agency, sewage has been dumped into the ocean and rivers around the UK more than 770,000 times over the course of 2020 and 2021 – the equivalent of almost six million hours.
A spokesman for Southern Water said: “Storm releases, which go a long way to reduce the impact of the type of flooding we have seen recently, and which are permitted by the Environmental Agency, reduced by nearly 50 per cent this year compared to last, in part due to a dry summer. We’re investing £2bn to improve environmental performance and further reduce their use by increasing storage capacity and working with partners to reduce the rain run-off entering the system.
“Our data on storm overflows, including unconsented spills, is submitted to the Environment Agency. Our annual bathing water update details how we are working to create healthier rivers and seas.
“This improvement is being achieved through record additional investment to reduce pollution and prevent flooding, industry-leading monitoring and transparency on spill reporting, and the exploration of innovative, nature-based and engineering solutions.”
