Surfers Against Sewage’s Water Quality Report covering 2024 is now available and the failures of our water companies make disturbing reading… Sewage is being dumped into our rivers and seas on a scale that defies belief - and the people who should be stopping it are cashing in instead. Some £1.2bn was paid out to shareholders all around the world… Criminal, when one considers the failings that we, wildlife and the global environment have to endure as a result of the failings. Public health’s at risk, with zero accountability and a total lack of transparency from those in charge. 

  

A water industry that dumped 4.7 million hours of sewage into our waterways… That's 592,478 spills in just one year. The recorded 2,487 pollution incidents in England marks the highest number in a decade (more than double the Environment Agency’s target – although in my view there shouldn’t really be any).

The 118,276 sewage spills by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, (more than one every five minutes) is the highest of any UK water company. The 23,498 sewage dumps pouring into Scottish waters for over 208,377 hours - and that's just from 6.7% of the network. SAS claims that Scottish Water failed to report 73% of spills in real time, adding that: “This missing data means the true scale is anyone's guess - but based on current rates, the real number could be as high as 364,629 spills - a sewage dump every 90 seconds.”

In Northern Ireland, only 2,967 sewage discharges were officially recorded. “But with just 122 sewage overflows monitored, that number barely scratches the surface,” warns SAS. “If there was 100% monitoring, we estimate 61,732 spills - more than one every 10 minutes.” And Belfast Lough, home to popular swim spots and a shellfish industry, saw sewage dumped into it over 10 times a day. “The public's being kept in the dark, and the lack of monitoring means we don't even know the full damage,” argues SAS. “People are getting sick. Our Safer Seas & Rivers Service App received 1,853 illness reports from water users - that's five people a day getting sick after entering polluted water of which 331 people saw a doctor and 79% were told their illness was caused by sewage. From gastro bugs to chest infections, even hospitalisations and heart surgery - the human cost is staggering.”   

SAS reminds us that The Independent Commission will be finalising its recommendations for water industry reform in England and Wales in May so NOW is the time for us to have our say here. 

  

Read the report here