Bexhill and Normans Bay, East Sussex, shut after water company pumps untreated sewage into the sea
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Beaches in East Sussex have been shut down after untreated sewage was pumped into the sea by water firms.
Beaches in Bexhill and Normans Bay were shut down after Southern Water experienced a ‘significant’ electrical issue at a pumping station in Galley Hill which led to the untreated wastewater gushing into the sea.
People have been told not to go into the sea until further notice.
The water, which included raw sewage, was released when the primary power and the back-up system at the station failed on Wednesday.
Nearby Hastings Borough Council also warned people not to swim at Pelham Beach due to the pollution risk.
Swimmers in East Sussex have hit out demanding that water firm bosses are held to account.
Juliette Wills, who is part of the swimming-group Bexhill Seagals, said that the sewage release into the sea will affect both her mental and physical health.
She told the BBC that swimming was more than just a ‘splash around’ and helps her live with her disability.
She said: ‘It is unbelievable and outrageous that the water companies can just continue to get away with this.’
A video posted on Twitter revealed the scale of the untreated water being released onto the East Sussex beach. Murky, grey water can be seen gushing into the sea. Bexhill and Normans Bay have been closed by Rother District Council until further notice
Ms Wills added that the water company’s needed to be ‘held accountable’.
A video posted on Twitter shows the untreated, murky grey liquid quickly spilling out from a pipe onto the beach directly into the sea.
Hugo Tagholm, who is head of Surfers Against Sewage, accused water companies of committing ‘environmental vandalism’.
A Southern Water van at Bexhill-on-sea where the raw sewage was being pumped nto the beach. Bexhill beach and Normans Bay will remain closed until further notice
He told the BBC: ‘Water companies have flipped from extreme drought to extreme sewage pollution.
‘Years of underinvestment is now in plain sight. It’s time that huge water company profits were diverted to properly managing water and sewage, and protect people and planet.
‘Our rivers and beaches should not be subject to this type of industrial environmental vandalism.’
Hugo Tagholm, who is head of Surfers Against Sewage, accused water companies of committing ‘environmental vandalism’. Others called for water company’s to be ‘held accountable’
Politicians have also waged in calling for a plan to end discharges – MPs across Sussex have written to Southern Water and the Environment Agency demanding that the county’s coastline and waterways ‘are respected and protected’.
The letter, dated August 18, said: ‘Once again, the rivers and the coastline across Sussex are being blighted by the discharge of sewage.
‘Whilst information to many of our officers appears to be scant, Southern Water’s own mapping shows, at time of writing, some 15 discharges over the last 72 hours following recent downpours.
‘In addition to the obvious environmental and community impact, the closure of popular beaches and restrictions on inland waterways causes financial loss to the numerous businesses who rely on our beaches and rivers.’
So far this summer, holidaymakers have been warned to avoid 50 beaches across England and Wales because of the sea has been polluted by sewage
Brighton and Hove City Council leader, Phélim Mac Cafferty said he was ‘disgusted’ with the release and plans to meet Southern Water’s chief executive next week.
He said: ‘Southern Water need to stop the sewage and pay for an immediate clean-up. But they also need to do much more to stop this happening again.’
Southern Water and Rother District Council said they are investigating the potential impact on the bathing water quality.
The water company said it was unknown how many litres of sewage were disposed into the sea but are ‘liaising closely’ with the Environment Agency.
The water firm, which covers Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, East Sussex, West Sussex and Kent, will also investigate the root cause of the power outage.
It said it would share the cause with customers and stakeholders when it could.
A man sits on the beach next to where brown, murky water can be seen at Bexhill-on-sea as raw sewage is pumped into the sea along the East Sussex coastline
So far this summer, holidaymakers have been warned to avoid 50 beaches across England and Wales because of the sea has been polluted by sewage.
The Safer Seas and Rivers Service, run by campaign group Surfers Against Sewage, revealed sewage had been discharged into seas at beaches in Cornwall, Devon, Sussex, Lancashire and Cumbria, among other places, and warned that bathers could be put at risk.
Environmental campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) keeps its own interactive map where surfers and other beach visitors can check the water quality of their local beach on a day to day basis. Ticks mean water quality is fine for water activities, while beaches with cross marks are to be avoided. Spanner and snowflake symbols mean water quality data is unavailable due to ongoing works or the beach being out of season
The most concentrated areas were across the south coast.
Water companies are allowed to release sewage into rivers and seas to prevent sewage works becoming overwhelmed during periods of heavy rain.
But critics say that firms have failed to invest in better infrastructure such as storage tanks, preferring to pay dividends to shareholders and bonuses to top executives.
What are the current laws on water companies releasing sewage into rivers and the sea?
Britain’s sewer system, which is still largely Victorian, becomes unable to cope when there is too much rainwater, causing sewage works to become overwhelmed.
It is under these circumstances that water companies are permitted to release rainwater, and a smaller amount of untreated sewage, directly into rivers and the sea, to stop waste backing up in streets and homes.
But environmentalists say better infrastructure, like storage tanks at treatment works, or nature-based solutions like tree-planting, could better tackle the problem, which has become excessive.
Figures show more than 400,000 sewage ‘overflows’ took place into English waters last year, lasting a total of 3.1 million hours, compared to 293,000 in 2019.
The WWF has suggested that water companies are ‘relying on sewer overflows to compensate for under-capacity’.
Waste water is normally released to the environment following treatment, either out to sea through long sea outfalls or coastal discharges, or into rivers.
The proposed amendment to the Government’s Environment Bill had been inserted into the legislation by the House of Lords but MPs voted to remove it.
The amendment aimed to clean up rivers by placing a new duty on water companies to reduce raw sewage discharges into rivers.
Sewage pours onto a beach and into the sea at a site next to the North Sea in England