Southern Water releases 'five MONTHS' worth of sewage on beaches

Southern Water discharged ‘five MONTHS’ worth of raw sewage at bathing beaches in the first eight days of November’

• Analysis by campaigners shows sewage discharges for 3700 hours in eight days
• Southern Water said heavy rainfall was to blame and sewage is ‘heavily diluted’
• Discharges have been recorded at 83 of the 86 beaches within Southern’s area 

Southern Water discharged raw sewage into UK water for more than 3,700 hours in the first eight days of November alone, the equivalent of five months’ worth, analysis of company data by campaigners shows.

The water company discharged sewage at 83 bathing beaches, almost all of those under its jurisdiction, in 493 separate releases, some of which are still ongoing.

Those behind the analysis are representatives from SOS Whitstable, a group aiming to put pressure on Southern Water to stop sewage discharges.

Ed Acteson from SOS Whitstable told MailOnline the current sewage releases are the worst he’s ever seen and he is ‘in despair that MPs are sticking their heads int he sand’ about it.

The group says five months’ worth of sewage has been released onto UK beaches by Southern Water in just eight days. 

But Southern Water said on social media that 95 percent of releases from overflowing storm drains were rainwater combined with shower and sink wastewater.

The other five percent is believed to be raw sewage. 

Maps updated this morning show the majority of beaches are still not usable for bathing due to the sewage releases

On the Isle of Wight, beaches at Cowes and Sandown are among the many bathing spots which the public are advised not to use

Activists, including those from SOS Whitstable, protest against the release of sewage by Southern Water onto beaches last month

Worst affected by the release of untreated sewage is Pagham beach, to the west of Bognor Regis, which has seen raw sewage discharged for more than 179 hours in two separate and continuing releases.

Meanwhile on the Isle of Wight Cowes has had sewage released for more than 80 hours, Ryde for more than 128 hours, and Sandown for more than 65 hours. 

Many of these releases have been categorised by Southern Water as ‘non-impactful’ on their online map – but water quality is not generally tested by the Environment Agency outside of May to September, making it difficult to know exactly how impactful the releases are.

In one case, SOS Whitstable found that a raw sewage discharge at Bexhill which lasted more than 120 hours was marked as ‘non-impacting’.

Mr Acteson said: ‘Off season water companies seem to be of the opinion that as soon as bathing season is over the problem goes away.

‘But this time of year is is when the bulk of pollution happens.

‘What has been absolutely shocking has been the lack of response on this by Conservative MPs in particular.

‘It’s their constituencies that are being polluted and high streets which are being impacted and none of them are reacting to this.

‘We are absolutely in despair that MPs are sticking their heads in the sand.’

Southern Water is responsible for wastewater in East Sussex, West Sussex, the Isle of Wight, Hampshire and Kent. 

In the last 48 hours alone, 78 of Southern Water’s 86 bathing beaches were showing as unusable due to the discharge of raw sewage.

Mr Acteson told MailOnline Whitstable is the most polluted area in Kent.

He added the impacts of pollution not only have serious environmental and public health implications, but also damage the town’s reputation and economic prosperity. 

Local businesses have had to spend significant sums of money on technology to clean seafood properly.  

At Pagham (left), sewage has been discharged for upwards of 179 hours

As of Wednesday morning, several beaches in Kent, including Whitstable, are too polluted to be used

He said: ‘The money local businesses have had to spend on new technology, to properly clean oysters, for example, is extraordinary. And they’ve received no compensation from Southern Water.

‘These discharges impact on tourism, the hospitality trade, and the whole high street.’

Speaking to The Guardian, Mr Acteson said: ‘The Environment Act was supposed to herald a new era for the environment in Britain. But this is the worst I have ever seen sewage pollution in the south-east.’  

He added: ‘There are 86 bathing water beaches and as of yesterday 78 of them were showing sewage discharges, and another five had discharges which the company says are non-impacting. 

‘This is environmental vandalism and most of these discharges are still ongoing as we speak. It fills us with foreboding for the coming winter months.’ 

Southern Water said it had seen a month’s worth of rain in just a week, leading to drainage systems becoming overwhelmed and releasing overflow into the sea.

Katy Taylor, Southern Water’s Chief Customer Officer, said: ‘As many people will have seen, we’ve experienced unprecedented stormy weather and flash flooding in early November, with more rain in the last week than we’d normally expect to see for the whole of the month.

‘To stop homes, schools and businesses from flooding, our nation’s network of storm overflows act as a release value to temporarily relieve this pressure, allowing excess flows – typically made up of up to 95% rainwater – to enter rivers and the sea. This is permitted by the Environment Agency.

‘Whilst this is how the system is designed to work in weather like this, we know we need to continue to work hard to improve the network. This is going to take time, and we are investing £2bn across five years – much of which will reduce the use of storm overflows, increase storage capacity and find ways to divert rain back to the environment naturally.’

This appears to contradict the company’s own statement on social media which acknowledges 95 percent of water released is a mix of rainwater and bathroom waste water. 

SOS Whistable have been vocal campaigners against sewage release in the area, and staged a protest last month on beaches affected by the discharges.

Activists were photographed holding signs with slogans such as ‘Stop the plop’ and ‘Say ‘noo’ to poo’.

Southern Water has been contacted for comment. 

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