'More than 17,000 hours of sewage released' along Isle of Wight coastline in 2023
Campaign group Friends of the Earth analysed Environment Agency data
Last updated 15th May 2024
More than 17,340 hours of sewage was released on the Isle of Wight's coastline in 2023, with hundreds of spills taking place close to bathing spots, analysis shows.
Campaign group Friends of the Earth analysed Environment Agency data on sewage overflow outlets to calculate the number and duration of spills directly into the sea and near swimming waters.
It found there were 2,103 incidents of sewage released into the sea off the Isle of Wight last year, totalling 17,346 hours.
There were 68,481 incidents of sewage released into England's seas last year, totalling 440,446 hours.
It identified bathing waters at Cowes as most affected in England, with nearly 5,000 hours of sewage released near the bathing spot in 2023.
Top 10 - duration of all sewage spills in England within 3km in hours
- Cowes. Isle of Wight - 4,979
- Meadfoot, Torbay - 3,885
- Plymouth Hoe West, Plymouth - 3,885
- Gurnard, Isle of Wight - 3,523
- Plymouth Hoe East, Plymouth - 3,593
- Exmouth South, Devon - 3,208
- Colwell Bay, Isle of Wight - 2,927
- Seaton Carew North Gare, Hartlepool - 2,708
- Ryde, Isle of Wight - 2,598
- Blyth South Beach, Northumberland - 2,503
The analysis has been released as comedian Nish Kumar fronts a new film with Friends of the Earth, with a spoof news report on the opening of tourist attraction Sh*t Beach on a seaside town's sewage-ridden beach.
Friends of the Earth identified all sewage outflows in coastal or estuary waters, or within 500 metres of the sea, to analyse the number and duration of spills into the water.
The campaign group also used the location of coastal bathing waters to summarise sewage spills within the vicinity of beaches, and identified all swimming spots which had warnings not to swim due to pollution or for reduced water quality in 2023, to see where was being most affected.
The comedian said: "Record-breaking amounts of shit and pollution clogging up our rivers and seas is no joke.
"If we don't act now, we'll all be swapping our swimmers for hazmat suits and packing an E. coli testing kit before hitting the great British seaside this summer.
"We can't let water companies have the last laugh, as their shareholders pocket huge payouts while our bills increase.
"We need to show that we give too much of a shit about our beaches and rivers to let them end up being a national health hazard."
Kierra Box, nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said the film was a spoof but "could be a taste of what's to come if the Government doesn't force water companies to clean up their act".
"We urgently need to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in UK law, to give communities the power to take back their local seas and beaches, to hold polluters to account, and ensure this never happens again," she urged.
John Penicud, director for wastewater operations at Southern Water, said: "Slashing the number of storm releases is top priority for us and our customers.
"Last November we announced our £1.5 billion storm overflow reduction plan which will combine innovative engineering with nature-based solutions.
"The past 18 months have been the rainiest since records began. The ground was utterly waterlogged in many areas, inundating our own sewers and customers’ drains and sewers.
"We’re extensively relining sewers, to keep sewage in and rainwater out, and our storm release reduction pilot schemes have already proved that nature-based systems can have a real impact."