Sewage & Sickness

This is SAS's core campaign – protecting the health of recreational water users from sewage polluted water.

Scientific studies have consistently highlighted that those using beaches, lakes or rivers for recreational water use are most at risk of falling sick from an illness associated with sewage polluted water. In some cases this risk is 3 times greater for recreational water users than your typical bather because sports like surfing involve more immersion and ingestion of water. Bacteria and viruses present in such water are just itching to latch on to the unsuspecting water user!

Thankfully over the past few years much has changed in the way sewage is treated. SAS campaigning has been instrumental in helping to change the way things have been done and as a result many water companies have now incorporated higher levels of treatment into their sewage plants so that effluent discharged into watercourses in many areas of the UK is now much improved.

Those using beaches, lakes and rivers for recreation however remain at risk and SAS is working hard to reduce these risks. There are some notable ‘brown spots' across the country where raw sewage is still discharged on a daily basis and these areas are subject to current SAS campaigning. The main examples of this are in Brighton, Guernsey, The Thames and Northern Ireland.

We are also seeking improvements to the combined sewer and stormwater overflow (CSO's) systems that pollute recreational water use areas, usually after heavy rainfall. Some of these will be improved under the 2005-2010 water company improvements programme, but many will not be improved sufficiently and continue to present an unacceptable risk to recreational water users.

The way water companies plan their investment programmes also requires major attention. Much of the current investment has ignored or disregarded the impacts of climate change, in particular changing weather patterns that will result in increased flows of water into and out of the sewage works without treatment because there is not enough capacity to store the sewage. It is therefore discharged through CSO's. More pollution incidents are expected because of this – and that means more time out of the water for the likes of YOU and US!

It's amazing how much sewage related debris continues to blight our beaches and how many people continue to put non-flushable items down their toilets. Sanitary towels, condoms, even the cotton bud are routinely flushed instead of being bagged and binned. By flushing these items blockages can be caused in sewer pipes, filter screens can be broken at sewage works and the result is always more often than not dirty beaches and polluted water. SAS encourages people to adopt a 'Bag it and Bin It' philosophy rather than dump and flush attitude to reduce the impact such products have on the sewerage infrastructure.

Indeed sewage pollution incidents from water companies are on the rise. Often branded as 'repeat offenders' they consistently find themselves in court hearings having polluted a watercourse or designated bathing water. Sadly the courts often fail to adopt the 'polluters pays' principle and many water companies receive only small fines for their offences that provide little or no incentive to improve their performance. SAS is therefore calling for an Environmental Courts system in the UK modelled on the success of the Swedish system to make the fine fit the crime!

It’s not just sewage from humans that causes problems in water - diffuse pollution, particularly from agriculture is also a reason why some of our designated bathing waters or popular recreational water spots suffer from poor water quality. Sewage from farm animals often runs off from fields into streams and rivers. With a high bacterial loading this can have an impact on bathing or recreational waters and so SAS are working on ways to reduce those risks through a combination of improved signage and more stringent environmental legislation.

One of the most disappointing things about using the water for recreation is that there is no legislation in place that specifically looks to protect our health from pollution. Current definitions in bathing water legislation seek to give protection from polluted water only to 'bathers'. These are typically holiday makers using water for recreation over 20 weeks of the year and whilst this is important and brings improvements in water quality, legislators continue to ignore those most at risk and so more often than not recreational water users still run the health gauntlet at the places they surf, dive, windsurf or sail in all year round. SAS is campaigning to secure such meaningful recognition that would ensure everyone using water for recreation is protected against polluted water.

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