Flooding of sewage
due to heavy rains prompted swimmers to avoid dozens of popular beaches across the country. It is
Charity Surfers Against Sewage confirmed that 50 beaches had been drained by water companies in the last two days.
These include beaches in Cornwall, Devon, Sussex, Essex, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Northumberland and Cumbria.
Devon and Cornwall have been particularly hard hit, andthe Environment Agency advised many beaches around the coastline to refrain from swimming today.
Former Undertones frontman turned environmental activist Feargal Sharkey called it "British sewage summer."
He said, it rains. The water company dumps sewage into nearby beaches and rivers.
Image:
sas)Image:
craddock1970/Twitter)He also noted that industry regulator Oftwat Calling their actions a "complete and utter failure."
Video footage shows sewage being discharged into the English Channel at Seaford, East Sussex. Just a few feet away from the popular nearby beach, you can see the dark gray water pouring into the water.
Southend on His Sea and Newquay have also been particularly severely affected, with her four beaches each closed for at least today.
Image:
craddock1970/Twitter)Image:
craddock1970/Twitter)Other beaches polluted by popular resorts include Bognor Regis and Lulworth Cov. Instead, he said it was a "terrifying spectacle."
People are urged not to assume their local beaches are safe as millions are expected to head to the coast this week.
A SAS spokeswoman said other pollution warnings may not be related to heavy rains and that beach-goers should check her interactive map on her website before swimming. is recommended.
The areas with the highest concentrations of pollution are across the South Coast, including Cornwall and Devon. Beaches on the Isle of Wight are also affected.
The Environment Agency has an interactive map that allows individuals to check water quality. It has individually identified dozens of beaches where people should avoid swimming.
This type of drainage is legal, but mostly occurs after heavy rains, when the pipes carrying the stormwater with the sewage are in danger of overflowing.
should only occur in exceptional circumstances.
But in 2020, he had more than 400,000 such incidents involving streams, rivers, and seas across the country, taking a staggering 3 million hours. There were 293,000 incidents in 2019.
Last year Southern Water was fined £90 million after he pleaded guilty to 51 counts of draining sewers in what was the worst case ever in the Environment Agency's history.
Image:
Alamy Stock Photo)Britain's combined sewer system, a legacy from the Victorian era, collects rainwater and waste into the same pipe. In other words, it overflows when it rains heavily.
At this point, according to a 2012 European Court of Justice decision, water companies discharge stormwater and untreated sewage into rivers and the sea for disposal in roads and homes in "exceptional" circumstances. It is recognized to prevent things from flowing backwards.
Image:
Getty Images/iStockphoto)But environmentalists argue that better infrastructure, such as storage tanks, could and calls for upgrading the sewage system so that untreated waste does not end up in the disposal. in the waterway.
The crisis has seen swimmers sickened, wildlife suffocated by algae, and raised calls for proper enforcement of regulations regarding the discharge of raw sewage.
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SWNS)Southernwater said: What is released is he 95-97% rainwater, which is not considered untreated sewage.
"We know customers don't like that the industry has to rely on these [drainages] to protect them, and we're pioneering new approaches."