Dozens of Beaches Polluted with Sewage After Heavy Rain
Pollution warnings were put in place on dozens of beaches in England and Wales after untreated sewage was released into the sea around the coast.
Official data reveals a range of discharges on the 15th of this month, which Southern Water claims are to protect residences and companies.
The contamination follows a phase of heavy rain throughout southern England after an extremely dry season.
Alerts from the Safer Seas and Rivers Service consider water companies’ data.
The charity Surfers Against Sewage run the program.
A lot of the beaches polluted are well-known resorts and feature:
- Bognor Regis, West Sussex
- Newquay, Cornwall
- East Looe, Cornwall
- Heacham, Norfolk
- Rest and Sandy Bay (Porthcawl), Bridgend
- Morecambe North, Lancashire
- Cowes, Isle of Wight
- Robin Hoods Bay, North Yorkshire
- Sidmouth Town, Devon
- Shoreham Beach, West Sussex
- Southend-on-Sea, Essex
A large part is along England’s south coast.
Destroying bathing locations
Near Bath is a favored swimming location along the River Avon called Warleigh Weir, which flows through a region belonging to landowner Johnny Palmer.
Untreated sewage has been discharged upstream. For years Mr. Palmer has been working to make the water sufficiently clean to acquire bathing status.
“I think it’s a disgrace. You’ve got children swimming. And you know, you can’t tell your kids not to drink the water. So you’ve literally got children drinking sewage, which you might expect in parts of Africa or India, but, you know, Western Europe,” Mr. Palmer shared.
Mr. Plamer added, “Rivers are a central part of our landscape and our ecology and our natural environment. They are a resource that everyone can and should use – and does use.”
Southern Water is just one of the water companies responsible for those areas, in addition to Wessex Water and South West Water.
Southern Water stated: There were thunderstorms accompanied by heavy rain the night before last, and [16th] Storm releases were made to protect homes, schools, and businesses from flooding. The release is 95-97% rainwater and so should not be described as raw sewage.
“We know customers do not like that the industry has to rely on these [discharges] to protect them, and we are pioneering a new approach.”
In 2021 Southern Water was fined a record ₤ 90m following its confession to intentionally disposing extensive quantities of sewage into the sea throughout the south coast.
Under EU legislation, these sewage discharges are legal only in “exceptional” conditions. They occur mainly after heavy rainfall when there is a threat that pipelines carrying storm-water, and sewage, might overflow.
Nevertheless, in 2020 and 2021, there were nearly 400,000 such occasions.
Protecting you and the environment
The Environment Agency stated that sewage contamination could be “devastating to human health, local biodiversity, and our environment”. Sharing it would not “hesitate to act to eliminate the harm sewage discharges cause to the environment“.
It has formerly asked for the top executives of England’s water companies to face prison when severe contamination incidents happen.
Hugo Tagholm, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage, stated: “Our rivers and beaches are once again being treated as open sewers. Years of underinvestment is now in plain sight.”
The government has claimed it means to create a strategy by September to minimize storm overflows. This was made a legal guideline by the Environment Act 2021.
Originally published by: The BBC
