Raw sewage dumped into the sea increases by 2,500% since 2016

[1andrew1]

Water companies have been increasing their dumping of raw sewage into the sea by over 2,500% since 2016 putting Britons at risk of Britons at risk of e-coli, salmonella and shockingly, hepatitis A.

Is it really acceptable for a developed country to be doing this in the 21st century? Surely we should be encouraging people to enjoy our great sea and beaches without such a risk to their health? And what about the adverse economic impact on tourism?

The moment thousands of gallons of RAW sewage flooded into the sea in Sussex forcing beaches to be closed for swimming

• Beaches in Bexhill and Normans Bay, East Sussex, have been shut to swimmers
• It comes after untreated sewage was released into the sea by Southern Water
• The water firm said it happened as the result of a 'significant' electrical issue
• Southern Water has been accused of 'environmental vandalism' by surfers

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ewage-sea.html

UK health body calls for upgrade to sewage system as beaches close
Britons at risk of e-coli, salmonella and even hepatitis A after water companies dump sewage and storm water into sea

The UK’s public health body warned of the risk of illness to swimmers after water companies dumped sewage and waste water into the sea this week.

“It harms the economy, it harms ecosystems, it harms health,” said Jim McManus, president of the UK’s Association of Directors of Public Health, on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme on Friday. “We need a sewage system fit for the 21st century that stops discharging sewage wherever possible.”

McManus warned of stomach, chest, ear, eye infections, e-coli, salmonella and even hepatitis A being contracted through contact with dirty water. “There are health impacts being seen and sometimes you see GPs reporting on those every year,” he said, adding that household chemicals also find their way into waste water.

“We made massive strides in life expectancy because of sewage, because of food safety . . . and here we are talking about the harms from sewage 175 years after my first predecessor tried to stop it,” he added.

The comments will add to pressure on the water monopolies and their regulators in England and Wales this summer, which have been heavily criticised for awarding lucrative pay packages and dividends to chief executives and investors while announcing hosepipe bans for households and presiding over leakage and pollution failures.

Earlier this week, Southern Water was attacked for telling swimmers to “use your judgment” on whether to swim in water affected by a release of sewage.

Katy Taylor, chief customer officer of Southern Water, told the ITV show Good Morning: “We’re not saying to customers: ‘Don’t swim or don’t go in at all’. We’re saying: ‘There has been a release, this is how long that release has been. It rained, so it’s 95 per cent rainwater, you then need to use your judgment on whether you feel it’s safe to go swimming or not’.”

https://www.ft.com/content/0140a61d-...d-1a797f7475bb

Huge increase in raw sewage released into UK waterways and sea, data reveals

The figure is an increase of 2,553% over five years, according to Environment Agency (EA) data, released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Between 2016 and 2021 water companies discharged sewage into waterways and the sea for a total of 9,427,355 hours, the equivalent of 1,076 years.

It comes as the EA issued warnings to holidaymakers to avoid dozens of beaches across England and Wales this week.

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.

It means all beaches between Brighton and Hastings are now closed to swimmers as they are polluted by the release of raw sewage.

The water 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.

https://news.sky.com/story/huge-incr...veals-12677730

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Water companies have been increasing their dumping of raw sewage into the sea by over 2,500% since 2016 putting Britons at risk of Britons at risk of e-coli, salmonella and shockingly, hepatitis A.

Is it really acceptable for a developed country to be doing this in the 21st century? Surely we should be encouraging people to enjoy our great sea and beaches without such a risk to their health? And what about the adverse economic impact on tourism?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ewage-sea.html


https://www.ft.com/content/0140a61d-...d-1a797f7475bb


https://news.sky.com/story/huge-incr...veals-12677730

Companies blaming unforeseen electrical/mechanical breakdowns for their problems, while simultaneously spending less than the bare minimum on maintaining those systems and replacing them when life-expired …

[jfman]

Welcome to late stage capitalism.

Originally Posted by jfman

Welcome to late stage capitalism.

My posts are your clickbait

And in totally unrelated news…

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...ronment-agency

government funding for the EA’s work on areas including river quality for 2021-22 has remained at just over £40m, which represents a continuing reduction in financial support for the agency, said Howard Boyd. Since 2010, funding for the EA’s work has been cut by nearly two-thirds, from £120m to the latest settlement of £43m plus £5m for new activity.

[Pierre]

As someone that started his professional working life in the water industry, I can understand in general terms the issue at hand.

Sewage Treatment Works/Waste Water Treatment Works are designed to handle a certain flow rate.

When we have storms/ flash floods a lot of the excess water finds itself in the waste water system and overwhelms the treatment plant.

What should happen is that the excess flow should exit the plant before it enters the plant over a storm weir into storm tanks. The excess material will then be pumped into the treatment plant for treatment from the storm tanks after the excess flow has receded to manageable levels.

But the storm tanks are a finite volume, and when they are full the excess flow will then by diverted into whatever watercourse the treatments plants outfall is.

There are screens so condoms, tampons, nappies, wet wipes (all the stuff you shouldn't flush down the toilet anyway) should be stopped.

Also when you say "raw sewage" it is heavily diluted by the excess flow, and a large % of the solid matter will settle in the storm tanks.

The only way to alleviate the problem is to build more storm storage tanks or build more treatment plants. Which is a legitimate question of investment.

And/or stop storm water entering the waste water network. Storm water should enter drains and watercourses, not sewers (unless specifically designed to)

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Pierre

As someone that started his professional working life in the water industry, I can understand in general terms the issue at hand.

Sewage Treatment Works/Waste Water Treatment Works are designed to handle a certain flow rate.

When we have storms/ flash floods a lot of the excess water finds itself in the waste water system and overwhelms the treatment plant.


And/or stop storm water entering the waste water network. Storm water should enter drains and watercourses, not sewers (unless specifically designed to)

Interesting, wonder if storms/ flash floods have increased 2500% in 6 years?

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Hugh

And in totally unrelated news…

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...ronment-agency

Yes, Redwood chooses to hide behind the cloak of an under-funded government agency whilst instructing it to permit foreign-owned water companies to dump raw sewage into our beautiful British seaside.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Interesting, wonder if storms/ flash floods have increased 2500% in 6 years?

% are a terrible statistic though. It depends what the starting number is.

Also my example above, as I pointed out, was in general terms.

The Mail story in the OP refers to an electrical issue at a pumping station.

This also makes sense, as not everywhere is uphill of a treatment works and pumping stations are required to move the flow to the treatment plant.

Every pumping station I worked at also had the same set up as I advised previously regarding storm tanks. I can only assume that the pumping station(s) involved where inactive for a long period of time or had no storage capability.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Pierre

% are a terrible statistic though. It depends what the starting number is.

Also my example above, as I pointed out, was in general terms.

The Mail story in the OP refers to an electrical issue at a pumping station.

This also makes sense, as not everywhere is uphill of a treatment works and pumping stations are required to move the flow to the treatment plant.

Every pumping station I worked at also had the same set up as I advised previously regarding storm tanks. I can only assume that the pumping station(s) involved where inactive for a long period of time or had no storage capability.

I'm guessing to some extent it's about long-term planning and funding the necessary investment. And having a strong well-resourced regulator backed up by government and not used as a scapegoat.

[Dave42]

it what the tories want they all voted to allow it except 22 that voted against they want no regulations

[nffc]

No wonder norovirus is around if they're poking around on the beaches with all this sewage...

[papa smurf]

Last week we had torrential rain in cleethorpes ,if that excess water is not dumped into the Humber the streets would be awash with human sewage as the Victorian sewers are overwhelmed and mister poo poo comes back to haunt us.

Or, they could have adequate storm tanks and treatment plants to prevent that from happening…

Originally Posted by papa smurf

Last week we had torrential rain in cleethorpes ,if that excess water is not dumped into the Humber the streets would be awash with human sewage as the Victorian sewers are overwhelmed and mister poo poo comes back to haunt us.

Yeah … that excuse really doesn’t hold water (geddit). Public sewage systems have been a thing in this country for 175 years. The engineering is well understood, including the design and maintenance of adequate storm water storage. If there isn’t adequate volume in the system to cope then that’s a failure to invest in a well understood and entirely predictable part of the system we’re paying for through our water/sewage bills.