We should all take pride in Scotland’s beautiful beaches, seas and rivers – many of which are pristine. That’s why the sewage dumping crisis affecting all parts of the UK – Scotland included – leaves so many people dismayed.
Now, we learn that raw human waste was pumped onto some of this country’s most-loved beaches more than 400 times last year. Beauty spots in places like Peterhead, St Andrews and Nairn – which have won awards for beach excellence – were left fouled up and polluted.
As the Daily Record reported last month, about 19,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of filth was dumped in Scottish waterways in 2022 – an horrendous all-time high. In England, privatised water companies have faced months of toxic headlines as the scale of sewage pollution in rivers down south has been laid bare.
But these figures show, despite Scottish Water being publicly owned, that we are far from immune from this epidemic of sewage dumping. Nowhere is safe – even our most stunning seaside destinations – from a sewer network that often seems unfit for purpose and stuck in the Victorian age.
Storm drains (and the clue is in the name) are only supposed to divert untreated waste into Scotland’s waters in cases of extreme, exceptional weather. Yet it happened a staggering 14,000 times last year – a rate of nearly 40 incidents a day.
Clearly, something is going very, very wrong. Unfortunately, we don’t know how wrong because just four per cent of our sewer overflows are monitored, compared to 90 per cent in England.
Challenged on these issues by Scottish Lib Dems’ chief Alex Cole-Hamilton yesterday, it was welcome to hear First Minister Humza Yousaf commit to intervening personally with Scottish Water bosses in order to sort this out. This is a truly disgusting state of affairs – and it cannot go on.
Give to the world
The impact of famine in East Africa is truly heartbreaking. One person is dying from hunger every 30 seconds.
The scenes are reminiscent of the devastating famine in Ethiopia during the 80s, which led to Live Aid. But this catastrophe has not been in the public eye, mainly due to war in Ukraine and the impact of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
The British Red Cross are appealing for help as the death toll grows daily. Money is tight for most people in Scotland right now but please help if you can.
