Revealed: 31,000 sewage discharges into bathing areas last year

2 Apr 2024

Embargoed until 22.30 Sunday 31 March

Sewage dumped average of 86 times a day last year into bathing water sites, up 47% on previous year
Lib Dems warn families visiting seaside over Easter bank holiday will be “horrified” that popular beaches are being ruined by rise in sewage dumping
Allonby in Cumbria the worst hit bathing site with 4,500 hours of sewage dumped last year

The Liberal Democrats have accused water companies of committing “environmental vandalism” after the party’s analysis has revealed that there were 31,000 sewage discharges in bathing areas last year, an increase of 47% compared to 2022.

Shockingly this amounts to sewage being dumped an average of 86 times a day into bathing water areas last year, subjecting swimmers to potential serious health risks. The Liberal Democrats warned that families visiting the seaside over the Easter Bank holiday would be horrified that popular beaches are being ruined by sewage.

The analysis looks at the amount of sewage dumped into beaches officially classified as bathing waters, meaning they should be protected from pollution. In total sewage was discharged for 228,000 hours into bathing areas across England in 2023, an increase of 80% on the previous year.

The worst bathing area for sewage dumping last year was in Allonby where United Utilities dumped over 4,500 hours worth of sewage. This was followed by Haverigg where United Utilities dumped 3,600 hours of sewage into bathing spots, then Middleton-on-sea where 3,500 hours of sewage was dumped by Southern Water.

United Utilities were also the worst offending company overall with 10,467 sewage spills over 76,259 hours dumped into bathing sites. South West Water dumped the second largest amount of sewage into bathing sites last year with 8,500 spills over 59,000 hours. This was followed by Southern Water, Wessex Water, and Thames Water respectively who were all responsible for dumping over 11,000 hours worth of sewage into bathing spots last year.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for an urgent meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) to review the impact of sewage spills on human health - for river and sea swimmers in particular. Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage released a report last year showing almost 2,000 people reported getting sick last year after swimming in the sea or rivers.

Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

“People visiting the seaside over the Easter Bank Holiday will be horrified to know that sewage has been dumped onto our country's popular beaches. Water companies are committing environmental vandalism and this Conservative government is letting them get away with it.

“As these firms and their execs take home millions, people looking to enjoy our beautiful beaches and rivers are seeing them infested with filthy sewage.

“Water companies must be laughing at us. These supposedly protected sites are nothing of the sort. Instead, this Conservative government has declared it open season for polluting firms to dump their filth into them.

“This national scandal cannot be allowed to continue for a moment longer. Rishi Sunak must finally take tough action to tackle sewage dumping, including an urgent investigation by SAGE into the impact of this scandal on human health.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

Bathing Water - Sewage Dumps (England) analysis can be found here. The analysis was undertaken using data directly from DEFRA's Event Duration Monitoring - Storm Overflows - Annual Returns 2023.

Surfers Against Sewage report can be found here.

SAGE is a government body which provides central government expert advice to support an emergency response. In the past, SAGE has been called upon to advise the government on other environmental emergencies including winter floods in 2013 - 2014 and in 2019, the potential breach of Toddbrook Reservoir in Derbyshire.