Clean water campaigners Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are extremely disappointed with the Planning Inspector's weak ruling, requiring water companies to make only minor improvements to their 4,000 unregulated Combine Sewer Overflows (CSOs). These minor improvements fall far short of what is needed to protect and improve the environment and SAS feel this has been an opportunity lost.
SAS supported the Environment Agency's proposed conditions, which didn't require excessive investment. Yet incredible, after 20 years of leniency, rather than embrace the decision with good grace the water companies involved appealed against 94% of the discharge consents! The appeal was brought before the... Read more
Clean Water campaigners Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are outraged, but not surprised, by bathing water results released today by Defra. 30% of UK beaches failed to meet guideline standards, a shockingly high figure that confirms SAS's fears that our bathing waters and surf spots are being contaminated by raw sewage discharging from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). And yet water companies are appealing against Environment Agency attempts to regulate 4,000 unlicensed CSOs. This combination of bad news for the environment has inspired SAS to launch the new "Adopt A CSO" campaign. This initiative will warn beach users of the impacts CSOs... 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
Clean water campaigners from Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are urging all water users to watch Panorama this Monday the 7th of September, BBC1 at 8.30pm. SAS have helped the Panorama team expose the shocking truth that after heavy rain, raw sewage is consistently discharging into our rivers, seas and bathing waters without warning to the public and water users.
SAS Campaign manager Andy Cummins features heavily in the programme and captures the most outrageous footage of a Combined Sewage and Stormwater Overflow drain (CSO) discharging raw sewage into a river. This is the first time this disgusting practice has been highlighted,... Read more
