Growing number of sewage monitors in England’s bathing waters ‘broken’ | Water

An increasing number of sewage monitors in England’s swimming spots are broken, new analysis has shown, meaning unknown quantities of raw sewage may be present in bathing waters.

New analysis of 2022 Environment Agency data by the Liberal Democrats has shown that more than 100 sewage monitors in bathing waters were faulty. This is an increase on 2021, when 88 of the monitors were broken.

Fifty-two of these monitors were found to have been faulty in both 2021 and 2022. Some beaches, including Seaford beach in Sussex, had a completely nonfunctional monitor, and others had no monitor at all.

Water companies use sewage monitors to track the level of sewage being pumped into the sea after discharge from storm overflows. This can occur due to broken or blocked sewer lines. More commonly, however, storm overflows are used to prevent sewers backing up due to heavy rainfall, like that experienced by much of the UK this summer, which has been one of the wettest on record. Last year, more than 1,000 sewage overflows flowed into designated bathing waters.

The Liberal Democrats’ environment spokesperson, Tim Farron, described the broken monitors as a “national scandal”. He said: “These profiteering firms have been too busy stuffing their pockets instead of fixing basic infrastructure. With all these broken monitors, we have no idea just how much sewage people are swimming in. As millions of people flock to the beach this month, we need these monitors fixed immediately.

“The Conservative government [have] buried their heads in the sand when it comes to the sewage scandal. The water industry feels lawless at times. Meanwhile, it’s children simply trying to enjoy the beach and our precious wildlife who suffer.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been contacted for comment.