Clean water campaigners Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are calling for 34 British beaches to be stripped of their Blue Flag status. SAS have uncovered information revealing these beaches can not meet the strict standards requiring public warnings after sewage discharges set by the international body responsible for the Blue Flag programme. SAS flew their Brown Flag at Whitburn beach in the North East. Whitburn has a Blue Flag but yet the European Commission (EC) is taking the UK to the European Court of Justice for "too frequent" and "excessive" spills from storm water overflows at Whitburn.
English Blue Flags not meeting the... Read more
Today Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) campaigners and supporters visited The Scottish Parliament, Holyrood, Edinburgh. The campaigners were in the water calling for Surfing Reserves outside Holyrood holding aloft their 9ft surfboard emblazoned with the Saltire (the Scottish Flag), and were joined by Green MSP Robin Harper.
SAS are calling for the Scottish Government to help protect Scottish waves and include Surfing Reserves in the Marine Bill. The Surfing Reserves initiative will go before the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee of the Scottish Parliament to be debated tomorrow, 25th of November.
SAS are calling for support on Surfing Reserves to be included in... Read more
Surfers Against Sewage fighting for first time EU bathing water designation at Portballintrae
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) campaigners and local surfers hand delivered a petition to the HQ of the Department of Environment Northern Ireland (DOENI) today, 17th November, when this years bathing water results were issued. SAS's Love Your Beach campaign petition, with more than 450 signatures, calls for the popular yet undesignated recreational waters at Portballintrae's Runkerry Strand to receive full EU bathing water designation.
In February 2009 SAS launched their Love Your Beach campaign, which will enable recreational water users to apply for 'bathing water' designation for their recreational... Read more
SAS are pleased to hear the European Commission (EC) has decided to take the United Kingdom to the European Court of Justice over non-compliance with EU environment legislation. SAS has spent the summer highlighting the inadequacies of the UK's sewerage system, specifically with Combine Sewage and Stormwater Overflow drains (CSOs), culminating in the hard-hitting Panorama programme "Britain's Dirty Beaches". The EC is concerned that the urban waste water collecting systems and treatment facilities in London and Whitburn in North East England and have deemed them "inadequate and a threat to human health."
SAS have highlighted time and again concerns over the... Read more
SAS campaigners starred in this weeks shocking BBC 1 Panorama programme 'Britain's Dirty Beaches'. The programme showed the nation SAS's exclusive footage of raw sewage discharging into rivers and bathing waters. This is a scene that is replicated in rivers, seas and bathing waters all over the country after heavy rain.
It was the most watched Panorama programme of the year and really hit a nerve across the country. The response we have received since Panorama aired has been fantastic, a mixture of shock at the previously hidden primitive methods of regular sewage disposal and gratitude to SAS for helping Panorama... Read more
Surfers Against Sewage call for year-round protection for Pease Bay surfers
This year, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) asked all UK water companies if they had any plans to reduce their sewage treatment outside the bathing season (May - September). Outside the bathing season is usually the best period for surf in the UK and reducing sewage treatment increases the health risks for surfers and waveriders.
When SAS asked Scottish Water if they planned to reduce their sewage treatment, thus increasing the health risk to surfers and waveriders, they replied with "It is not a question of switching off treatment outside the bathing... Read more
The SAS campaign team has always punched above it's weight. We do this because we are surfers, water users and started out as SAS members and so the campaigns mean as much to us as they does to you. We put in the long hours, determined that each campaign will end in an SAS victory, a victory for surfers, waveriders and water users all over the UK.
We want to do more, but we need your help. We want to extend the SAS campaign team to every corner of the UK coastline. We want to use our greatest resource, YOU, our... Read more
With the States of Guernsey meeting on Wednesday to decide the future of wastewater charges, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) campaigners are reminding Deputies that last year's bathing water results were again very disappointing and in years to come are likely only to get worse as European Bathing Water legislation is strengthened.
Having received copies of the 2008 water quality data it appears more than half of Guernsey's designated bathing waters have failed to meet Europe's guideline standard on water quality, with Pembroke beach failing all together.
With a recent strengthening of Europe's water legislation, meeting new bathing water quality standards of the... Read more
Clean water campaigners Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are supporting the De Lisle/Fallaize amendment to the Public Services Department proposal for first time wastewater charges to be introduced in Guernsey.
The new amendment tabled by Deputy David De Lisle and seconded by Matt Fallaize is an improvement on the Public Service Departments' proposal for islanders. It calls on the States to commit to "full sewage treatment" with the relevant work needed, to be funded by the "ring-fenced additional fixed charge". The amendment calls for these commitments within an achievable timescale. SAS has urged all Deputies to support this amendment.
The De Lisle/Fallaize amendment... Read more
