Sewage has been dumped hundreds of times at bathing sites this summer, making much of Britain’s waters potentially unsafe to swim in during one of the hottest, driest summers on record.
Since the start of the official bathing season on 15 May, the charity Surfers Against Sewage has recorded 764 sewage alerts at 244 bathing spots in England and Wales.
This means 43 per cent of the 573 bathing spots in England and Wales have had sewage warnings so far this year. The bathing season ends on 30 September this year.
Sewage alerts are triggered when real-time water company data shows a firm is dumping sewage or when Environment Agency modelling triggers a warning of pollution, typically after heavy rainfall.
Spittal Beach in Northumberland had the highest number of alerts, with 11 warnings in total, followed by Sandy Gap Beach and Biggar Bank Beach on Cumbria’s Walney Island, both of which triggered 10 alerts since May.
Many of the worst-performing bathing spots are in the north-west, where there has been more rain.
A number of sites along the south coast have also seen over six alerts triggered, despite the minimal amount of rain there since June.
‘Public health crisis’
Water companies are allowed to discharge sewage during periods of extreme rainfall to prevent their pipe networks from becoming overwhelmed and sewage backing up into people’s homes.
However, they also regularly dump sewage during dry weather or following minimal rainfall. Sewage was discharged in the Cornish town of Fowey this weekend despite the area experiencing only light rain showers. South West Water said the discharges were due to “pumps not keeping up” with tidal water entering the sewer.
It’s not clear from Surfers Against Sewage’s data which of these alerts followed periods of heavy rainfall. All regions of England have experienced some heavy rainfall this summer, particularly in early June. However, much of the south and east of the country experienced virtually no rainfall in July and early August.
Kirsty Davies, community water quality manager at Surfers Against Sewage, said it was “shocking” that over 700 sewage alerts had been triggered in the space of a few months.
She said the ongoing sewage pollution has led to issues including “families getting sick after a day at the beach, swimming events cancelled, holidaymakers suffering infections from dirty water”.
Gastroenteritis is typically one of the most common illnesses experienced by people swimming in polluted water. It can be caused when people swallow water contaminated with bacteria such as E.coli. Other issues include skin, eye and throat infections.
“This is a public health crisis caused by water company mismanagement and greed, and the Government is cowering away from any responsibility to protect public health,” Davies said.
Water companies have pledged to invest in infrastructure to reduce pollution, including collectively investing £12bn to almost halve sewage spills by 2030 compared to 2021.
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said: “The Government shares the public’s frustration that discharges are polluting our rivers, lakes and seas.
“Storm overflows should only be used in very specific circumstances, and this Government has already taken action against water companies who are failing to perform, making it a criminal offence to cover up illegal sewage spills.
“We need to go further so our water system works for the public; that’s why we are going to drive forward the biggest overhaul of the water sector in a generation, upgrading outdated bathing water regulation, creating a powerful new regulator to hold companies to account.”
The data comes as water firms in England are set to record the highest number of serious pollution incidents, including sewage spills, in at least a decade.
Heatwaves cause toxic pollution
This summer’s successive heatwaves have also caused pollution problems at bathing spots, particularly in rivers where low water flows and high temperatures are creating toxic algal blooms.
Last week, bathers were warned to avoid entering the water at a new official bathing spot at Ham on the River Thames in south-west London due to toxic blue-green algae.
People in the Thames at Ham, which was designated this year as London’s first official river bathing water site (Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA)
This type of algae typically forms when excess nutrients from sewage or agricultural pollution enter warm, slow-moving bodies of water.
Blue-green algae can produce harmful toxins that cause mild rashes on humans or more serious health problems, such as vomiting and diarrhoea if swallowed.
The site on the Thames is one of 13 new bathing spots, including six in rivers, that were introduced by the Government this year. Of these new spots, the River Dee in Chester is the only one for which sewage alerts have been issued, with seven alerts in total.
Campaign groups across the country have been applying for bathing water designation across more rivers as part of efforts to clean them up. The water quality at these designated spots is tested frequently during the bathing season and water companies are required to prioritise reducing pollution at these sites.
The i Paper’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign has been calling on the Government to create 100 new bathing spots in rivers by 2030.