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Turquoise sea turns BROWN as raw sewage is pumped into the water along the beautiful Cornish coast
- The photos were taken on St Agnes beach on the north coast of Cornwall
- Dark brown water was photographed mixed with the idyllic turquoise sea
- Most were shocked by the images, but a former Tory MP said it was ‘good news’
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At a beach in Cornwall, raw sewage was pumped into the sea on Sunday in the latest of a string of water pollution incidents this year, which has left many beaches unusable.
St Agnes Beach in Cornwall is known to locals and tourists alike for its beautiful scenery, charming village and great surfing conditions.
But the usually turquoise water turned all brown Sunday morning after Cornwall’s water company, South West Water, appeared to have dumped the raw sewage into the ocean.
Video footage online shows a huge amount of dark brown sewage in the water, right on the coast, slowly mixing with the light blue sea next to it.
A social media user shared the photo with the caption “Speechless.”
But former Conservative MP for Dorset East Sir Michael Take said the sewage discharge was ‘safe’ and ‘good news’ for the UK.
Water utilities in the UK have come under heavy fire this year as millions of gallons of untreated sewage have polluted the country’s oceans.
The usually picturesque St Agnes Beach (right) has sparked outrage from the public today after raw sewage was pumped into the sea
The usually turquoise water of St Agnes turned a dark brown color when untreated wastewater was released
Images of the sewage were shared by Surfers Against Sewage, a campaign group fighting against the discharge of sewage into UK waters
Not everyone was shocked by the sewer: a former MP called the photos ‘great news’
The murky brown water could be seen far into the ocean, rendering the beach unusable for swimmers and surfers
While it is illegal in many scenarios to discharge sewage, if the overflows become overcrowded, water companies have little choice but to release the sewage into the sea to free up space.
According to Surfers Against Sewage, eight of Cornwall’s beaches were unusable at 5pm on Sunday due to recent sewage discharges.
Regular discharge of wastewater harms wildlife and ocean animals, but also poses a risk to humans, due to the harmful bacteria it can carry.
After today’s images were viewed online, there was widespread reaction to the pollution.
Some described the images as “unbelievable” and “truly terrible.” Another said: ‘Heartbreaking to see that – South West Water, please stop discharging sewage.’
But former Conservative MP for Dorset East, Sir Michael Take CBE, said: ‘This is waste water being sensibly distributed today in St Agnes in Cornwall.
‘You will see that the beach is empty, so NOBODY will be harmed. This would of course have been stopped by the nitpicking EU.
‘Due to Brexit, we can now apply such SAFE procedures. Good news!’
He received angry reactions online after he shared the images.
In August, it was revealed that water companies had spent more than nine million hours pumping raw sewage into Britain’s seas and rivers since 2016.
Figures from the Environment Agency reveal the staggering amount being discharged into areas, including tourist and beach resorts.
At the time of release, Labor warned that the actual number of hours would likely be much higher.
The data showed that raw sewage has been discharged into the UK’s seas and rivers for at least 9,427,355 hours since 2016.
It also showed that the number of controlled discharge hours increased by 2,553 percent between 2016 and 2021.
In 2016, the Environment Agency recorded that wastewater was discharged for only 100,533 hours.
By 2021, that figure had risen to 2,667,452.
South West Water has been contacted for comment.