environmental pollution
Swimmers protest against sewage in the sea
Protest at Brighton West Pier in East Sussex against water pollution. photo
© Gareth Fuller/PA Wire/dpa
In the UK, sewage is often discharged untreated into the sea. Now there are protests against it.
In the waves, on surfboards and in kayaks, activists have demonstrated on a dozen beaches across the UK against dumping unfiltered sewage into the sea. The organization Surfers Against Sewage calls for the protection of beaches and a reduction of wastewater discharges by 90 percent by 2030.
Swimmers went into the sea in the popular seaside resorts of Brighton and Falmouth in southern England and in Scarborough in north-east England, near the Scottish capital Edinburgh, and also in Northern Ireland. On signs they demanded, among other things: “Let your intestinal movements out of our oceans!”
Surfers Against Sewage also criticized the water company’s announcement that it would invest a further £10bn (€11.5bn) to modernize its aging sewage system. Ultimately, consumers should pay for this with higher bills. The organization, on the other hand, demands that companies have to finance the costs through their profits. “The public is fed up with greed taking precedence over the health of our oceans,” said campaign manager Izzy Ross.
In the UK, rainwater and sewage are routed to sewage treatment plants in the same pipes. In heavy rain, however, the capacity is sometimes insufficient, especially when – as after the heat wave in 2022 – the dried-up soil cannot absorb the water quickly. This could lead to sewage treatment plants overflowing and flooding of houses and streets. That’s why excess wastewater can occasionally be discharged directly into the sea and rivers – but critics believe that a number of sewage treatment plants use this far too often. In 2022, untreated sewage flowed into the sea and rivers for a total of 1.75 million hours.