News
Sewage spill data a ‘disgrace’
New sewage data shows small drop in the number of sewage spills in 2024, but duration has increased.
28 March 2025
Thousands of water users are set to paddle out at the UK’s beaches, rivers and lakes today (Saturday 17 May), in protest against an ongoing sewage crisis that saw untreated sewage discharged more than once a minute, on average, across the UK last year.
Co-ordinated by environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), the protests are calling for transformational reform of the water industry, as sewage pollution remains a threat to the UK’s blue spaces and public health.
A record number of protests at over 40 UK-wide locations are set to take place, with surfers, swimmers, kayakers and bathers – from Bournemouth to Belhaven Bay and Pembrokeshire to Portrush – taking to the water to make a stand against sewage pollution.
The Paddle-Out Protests are taking place at the beginning of England and Wales’ official bathing season, which runs from 15 May to 30 September, as we flock to the UK’s blue spaces to enjoy the water.
Last year, there were 8,704 sewage discharges in England during the bathing season, an average of more than 60 a day.
SAS has developed a free mobile app, the Safer Seas & Rivers Service, which provides real-time pollution alert for over 450 locations across the UK, helping protect water users from sewage pollution.
The charity is encouraging everyone who is attending the Paddle Out Protests to use the app to check the water is safe for a dip.
However, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the bathing season runs from 01 June to 15 September, water users are not able to receive pollution alerts through the app, due to inadequate monitoring from the devolved governments. This is an issue SAS is campaigning to address.
Recent polling of more than 2,000 UK adults, carried out for Surfers Against Sewage, shows that over half (54%) are worried they will become sick if they swim in UK waters due to poor water quality, with only one in five (19%) believing that by 2030 they will be able to enjoy the country’s beaches, lakes and rivers without the risk of becoming unwell.
Furthermore, more than a third (37%) believe the actions of their water supplier has negatively impacted their local community and less than a third (31%) trust the government to ensure water suppliers will improve infrastructure and reduce sewage spills.
‘Another year, another summer of swimming and surfing in sewage while our shameless water companies laugh all the way to the bank. The public has simply had enough and will be paddling out in their thousands to send a clear message to government and the polluters: end this sewage scandal now!
‘Our failing water industry has been trumpeting billions in investment to clean up their act, but we know that these fat cat bosses can’t be trusted to keep their promises. The proof is in the missed targets, shocking statistics and devastating stories of sickness we continue to see year after year. We’ve had enough of their lies, greed and incompetence and know that this nightmare will not end until the whole water system is radically reformed.
‘The thousands paddling out across the UK are letting the water companies, government and Independent Water Commission know, loud and clear, that we will not accept another year of risking our health to swim in the sea.
‘People should be free to use the water without fear of getting sick, and that’s why we developed the Safer Seas & Rivers Service, a free app that provides real-time pollution alerts, giving peace of mind for those worried about sewage pollution.’GILES BRISTOW
CEO at Surfers Against Sewage
The protests are taking place as the Independent Water Commission reviews its evidence before making recommendations to government on reforming the water industry in England and Wales.
Surfers Against Sewage is calling for a total reform of the privatised water sector, demanding that protecting public health and the environment should be prioritised ahead of profit.
With minimal sewage overflow monitoring in Scotland and Northern Ireland (with data reported from just 6.7% and 4.3% of each country’s entire network respectively), protesters paddling out in Scotland and Northern Ireland are calling for proper monitoring, full transparency and for government to address the scale of the issue.
‘We have shown that people power brings about change: we campaigned hard for an Independent Water Commission, and now it must deliver what the public demands. If the government settles for the status quo, history will keep repeating itself and we will never end sewage pollution.
‘We cannot keep chucking good money down the drain to service debt, dividends and dodgy bosses, whilst the deluge of sewage discharges contaminates our wild waters and the ocean. The time for tinkering around the edges of a broken system is long gone. This year’s Paddle-Out Protests will show those in power that the public are watching and will not let up until public health and the environment is prioritised over profit.’GILES BRISTOW
CEO at Surfers Against Sewage
Last month, SAS revealed that sewage was discharged over half a million times into UK waters in 2024, with English water companies failing on their Environment Agency targets to reduce sewage pollution incidents.
Instead of achieving a 40% reduction, incidents increased by 30% – the highest in a decade.
Sewage spilled into the UK’s sea, rivers and lakes for 4.7 million hours at the same time as shareholders of private water companies cashed in on £1.2 billion in dividends.
Among England’s water companies, United Utilities was the worst offender in 2024, spilling sewage over 77,000 times, with Severn Trent, Wessex and Thames Water discharging more sewage than the previous year.
In Wales, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water was responsible for 118,276 sewage discharges, an average of more than one sewage spill every five minutes.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the true scale of sewage pollution is unclear due to limited monitoring of combined sewage overflows (CSOs.) However, SAS estimates that sewage discharges last year could have been as high as 364,629 and 61,732 respectively.
‘We are paddling out because we seem to be in the same place each year. We see record levels of sewage pollution in our blue spaces, especially here on the south coast. Many a time, I have been personally affected. I can’t go sea swimming. I can’t go surfing. I also volunteer for the Wave Project which provides surf therapy for young people. That’s been cancelled a few times, and we couldn’t go in the water. It makes me extremely angry. We are paddling out in protest of the scandal and to call for total reform of the water industry.’
STUART DAVIES
Surfers Against Sewage rep and organiser of the Brighton Pier Paddle-Out Protest
Shelley Sim, a sea swimmer from East Lothian who was hospitalised after swimming in polluted water is joining her local Paddle-Out at Belhaven Bay. She said: ‘I’m joining the Paddle-Out because sewage doesn’t belong in our seas. Clean water is a right, not a luxury. It’s a place of healing and joy and sanctuary for so many people, and it shouldn’t also be a place of fear. Coming together is a way for us to make a change, and with so many of us paddling out, the decision-makers will have to take note and hear us.’
Surfers Against Sewage is calling for ambitious and radical reform of the water industry in England and Wales, to put the environment and public health ahead of profit and end sewage pollution for good.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the charity is calling for real-time sewage alerts and increased monitoring and transparency of sewage discharges into blue spaces.
Following the nationwide Paddle-Out Protests, SAS is urging the public to email their MP and call for their support for transformational reform of the water industry in England and Wales, and increased transparency and monitoring of water quality in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
New sewage data shows small drop in the number of sewage spills in 2024, but duration has increased.
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