Campaigners have warned of the risk of more sewage pollution on coastlines ahead of the bank holiday as they called for greater ambition to conserve rivers and seas. Data from campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) shows 654 alerts of sewer overflows spilling sewage into bathing waters this summer, from 171 locations in England and Wales.
Last week, as heavy rain falling after weeks of dry weather overwhelmed the sewage system, there were 100 alerts for pollution, the data shows, with the south west and south coast of England worst hit. With rain forecast again for parts of England in the next day or so, SAS chief executive Hugo Tagholm said: “We wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more pollution events along the south coast where there’s rainfall.”
He said it did not take exceptionally heavy rainfall for raw sewage to be flushed out in storm overflows, and urged people to check the SAS Safer Seas and Rivers Service app which gives real time alerts of pollution incidents. With the app, he said: “People are forewarned, they can make a decision to go somewhere that’s not affected, to have a good time at the beach.”
