Threats to Watersports

The Problem

While the exact effects of climate change are uncertain at present, it is thought by many of the world's top scientists that it is likely to result in an increase in rainfall in some regions and a global increase in extreme weather events such as storms and floods.

Unfortunately, global warming is unlikely to mean that we will all be surfing in boardies (shorts) throughout the summer months!

Increasing rainfall, especially an increase in the frequency of heavy rainfall events, will put huge pressure on the sewage network in the UK, as it will have to cope with a larger volume of wastewater.

If the volume of water entering a sewage treatment works is too large, the excess should be diverted to storage tanks for treatment when the flow decreases. A 20% increase in rainfall would require a sevenfold increase in storage requirements. If, however, the storage volume is exceeded, the wastewater then discharges raw and untreated into our rivers and seas. Because of this it is likely we will suffer more pollution incidents amongst recreational water users and bathers because of poor water quality.

Simply put, increasing rainfall can lead to an increase in the frequency that the sewage network will overflow.

Unfortunately, when designing new works and storage facilities, it is water industry practice to use rainfall data from the late 60's (despite data being available from the 90's), which can lead to rainfall underestimations of up to 40%. Therefore, even before any increase in rainfall from today's standards is considered, the water industry is on the back foot.

Despite the many improvements in treatment facilities we have seen over the last 15 years, this will not help to protect recreational water users if sewage routinely bypasses them during periods of heavy rain.

SAS are also concerned about the potential loss of some recreational water areas as a result of rising sea levels.

The Solution

By reducing the amount of CO² and other greenhouse gasses we emit, it is hoped that the severity of the effects of climate change can be reduced. Even if CO² levels level out, some aspects of climate change (such as an increase in rainfall) may still prove unavoidable. Therefore, plans must be made to compensate for this.

The water industry needs to embrace the fact that rainfall may increase during the lifetime of the treatment works and design storage facilities etc accordingly to cope with increased peak flows. At the very least, they should use the most up to date data available. Where possible, separation of sewage and drainage systems would prevent run off from heavy rain overflowing sewage treatment works resulting in discharges of untreated sewage. Sustainable drainage systems should be used to attenuate rainwater, helping to reduce the likelihood of system overflows.

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