Water companies pumped sewage into the sea at 35 of England’s 77 Blue Flag beaches in 2024, according to analysis by The i Paper.
Despite the scorching temperatures this week, which look set to continue over the weekend, there have been more than 1,000 sewage spills around all UK beaches in recent days, according to the Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) campaign.
Water companies are usually only allowed to use “storm overflows” to discharge waste into rivers and seas during periods of heavy rain to stop their systems from getting overwhelmed and sewage backing up into people’s homes.
“Rain or shine, sewage is spilling into our precious blue space and it’s just not good enough.”
In all there were at least 2,380 sewage spills at Blue Flag beaches over a total period of 15,291 hours last year.
The latest figures, which could threaten the Blue Flag status of the worst offending beaches, follow claims from water companies that they are investing in improvements to mitigate sewage spills.
Many of the top 10 worst performing Blue Flag beaches in 2024 were covered by South West Water, which manages water and sewage services in the holiday hotpots of Devon and Cornwall.
Exmouth, which pumped sewage into the sea for 2,279 hours in 2024, tops the list in this category. The town, which has been awarded Blue Flag status seven years in a row, saw 214 sewage spills over 1,983 hours in 2023.
Jo Bateman, who attempts a sea swim every day in Exmouth, is taking legal action against South West Water over sewage dumping (Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith)One local resident in the town is also taking the water company to court, stating that it has illegally prevented her from a legal right to swim in clean seas.
South West Water said: “It is important to address that there are many factors that contribute to whether or not a beach is awarded Blue Flag status and water quality is only one of them.”
South West Water said it was investigating the cause of the high spill numbers from the storm overflow at Salcombe Regis. It added that “we already know that several significant unauthorised connections to the sewer network are contributing high levels of additional flows into the sewer including highway road gullies with extensive road run off”.
Other water firms among the worst performers for sewage spills include Northumbrian Water, Yorkshire Water and Wessex Water, which saw a beach in Weymouth lose its Blue Flag status last month.
Warnings of weekend spills
Holidaymakers on the main beach at Exmouth, where residents have launched a legal claim against South West Water (Photo: James D. Morgan/Getty)Across the entire UK there are 151 Blue Flag beaches. In addition to the 77 in England, there are nine in Northern Ireland, 46 in Scotland and 19 in Wales.
None of the UK’s water companies would guarantee that their Blue Flag beaches would not be affected by sewage discharges this weekend.
“As families head to their local river, they may be greeted by the stains and stench of corporate failure, not fresh water.”
Industry says it does not ‘purposely discharge’
“To build on this progress, water companies are investing a record £104bn over the next five years to secure our water supplies, end sewage entering our rivers and seas and support economic growth.”
“Overflows operate during heavy rainfall and, if there is no heavy rainfall, discharges are unlikely.”
Northern Ireland Water said: “NI Water does not purposely discharge untreated sewage into water bodies.”
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