Sewage is being regularly dumped on more than a dozen environmentally protected sites in Scotland, new research shows.
SNP ministers face growing pressure to address the crisis after shock data revealed 7.6million cubic metres of sewage were released at beloved parks, beaches and waterways of special significance last year.
The grim total - the equivalent of more than 3000 Olympic swimming pools of filth - was uncovered by the Lib Dems via freedom of information laws.
They found sewage was dumped at environmentally important locations such as the Inner Clyde, Hamilton Lows Park, the Firth of Forth, the Upper Solway Flats and Marches, North Orkney and Shetland’s East Mainland Coast.
Between them are 11 Sites of Special Scientific interest (SSSI), four Wetlands of International Importance (RAMSAR) and six Special Protection Areas (SPA).
The true scale of the crisis in Scotland is unknown - as just 4 per cent of overflows along our 31,000-mile sewer network are monitored, compared to 89 per cent in England.
New First Minister Humza Yousaf vowed to intervene last month after it was revealed sewage had been dumped on award-winning beaches more than 400 times in a year.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Scotland is world famous for its beautiful outdoors and its fascinating biodiversity.
“But these figures suggest that at a host of scientifically significant sites such as rivers and lakes, sewage is discharged into the natural environment.
“What’s more, this is almost certainly a significant understatement, because less than one in 20 discharge pipes are actually monitored.
“The First Minister has made a personal commitment to look into the health of Scotland’s waterways - the first step will be to get a handle on the scale of the problem.
“Humza Yousaf needs to give a commitment that Scottish Water will record and publish details on every sewage dump, not just the limited numbers that are currently recorded.”
Among the areas where sewage was released - from 18 known overflow pipes - include part of the River Clyde's estuary, the Inner Clyde, home to wildfowl and wading birds.
Also impacted is Hamilton Low Parks in South Lanarkshire, the biggest heronry in Scotland as well as home to badgers, foxes and deer.
The highest number of spills took place near Endrick Water SSSI, west of Stirling, where 797 overflows were recorded by the local sewage works. The site boasts several rare species of lamprey and the Scottish dock, a rare plant.
Other sites affected include the River Tweed, designated an SSSI to protect local salmon and otters, and the Sands of Forvie in Aberdeenshire, the UK’s fifth largest dunes.
We previously told how sewage was dumped in Scottish rivers 14,000 times last year in a record-breaking deluge of human waste.
Sewer overflows are only supposed to discharge untreated waste directly into our waters during exceptional weather, but it happened at a rate of nearly 40 times a day in 2022.
Publicly-owned Scottish Water has promised to install a further 1000 monitors on overflows in Scotland by the end of 2024.
A spokesman said: "Overflows operate during storm events, allowable under licence requirements, and flows include significant amounts of rainfall and surface water.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We take sewage pollution incidents very seriously and work closely with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Scottish Water to reduce its impacts on the water environment.
"87 per cent of Scotland’s entire water environment is assessed by SEPA as having a ‘high’ or ‘good’ classification for water quality – up from 82 per cent six years ago.
“Scotland’s River Basin Management Plan objectives aim to improve water quality to 92 per cent of waterbodies at ‘high’ or ‘good’ classification by 2027 and this will benefit wildlife."
Rocker-turned-eco warrior Feargal Sharkey told the Record in March that the situation in Scotland was likely just as bad as in England - where rising anger over sewage spills has forced Tory ministers to beef up its targets to curb the practice.
The ex-Undertones frontman said: “From the… few bits of data that are available, it would be, in my opinion, indicative of there being just as big a lack of investment, and just as big a lack of treatment and processing - and therefore probably just as big a scale of sewage dumping - going on in Scotland as there is in England and Wales.”
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