For two years, the UK has faced a national disgrace with polluted beaches. The situation has only worsened.

I came across a tweet discussing the magnitude of the issue and doubted its validity due to the massive number of people polluting the rivers and beaches with sewage - it seemed too unbelievable. I figured I would explore the matter further because if it were true, it would be a major scandal.

My investigation aligned with the tweet's contents: there was a considerable amount of sewage pumped into England's rivers and onto its beaches. The so-called "storm overflows" designed to flush drains overflowing into rivers, seas, and even beaches are expected to be employed during extraordinary circumstances. However, in the year 2021, these overflows discharged their contents throughout the country, amassing a total of 2.7 million hours - the equivalent of 300 years.

The citizens of the UK have witnessed beach closures for swimming over peak summer holiday weekends, dead fish in busy rivers, and have stood in filthy surf.

Says Giles Bristow, who was once swept up in a sewage slick while surfing in Staunton, Devon, "After the initial smell, we noticed toilet paper and sanitary products in the water. This was the moment it hit home."

As public anger over England's filthy beaches has grown, some notable events have further inflamed the situation.

The annual swimming race in the Thames was canceled just before the last bank holiday weekend out of fear of untreated sewage in the water. This event, dating back to the 1890s, was meant to take place in July, but was canceled for this reason.

During the August bank holiday weekend - a time when hordes of Brits visit the beaches - Brighton and Hove, a popular beachfront for Londoners, faced yet another closure. "Brighton and Hove are repeatedly drenched," explains ex-CEO of campaign group Surfers Against Sewage, Hugo Tagholm, now replaced by Bristow.

Despite strong public backlash, the situation is worsening. Graphs on Richardson's website, titled "Top of the Poops," beyond England also show a slight decline in numbers between 2020 and 2022, only to skyrocket in 2023.

The incidence of sewage spills increased by 54% in 2022, based on data released by the Environment Agency in March.

Offended by this situation in 2021, Richardson, a software developer, created Top of the Poops to present the information in a more user-friendly manner. This included the website's name, ironically reminiscent of the popular TV program "Top of the Pops."

Anyone interested in seeing the sewage discharge in their area can search for the data by water company, beach, river, cultivated shellfish area, and even constituencies.

Storm overflow pipes often disgorge their contents onto beaches, like this one in Swanage, Kent.

"People can see what's happening in their local area, and it reveals the severity of the problem we face," says Richardson. "The numbers are too overwhelming and the situation is not improving."

After 2022's public outrage, which included the UK's Chief Medical Officer labeling the issue a "growing public health concern" and the Environment Agency Chairman calling for imprisonment of the water company CEOs, the situation has deteriorated.

An annual "Event Duration Monitoring" (EDM) of storm overflow spills in England, published in March, announced a 54% increase in sewage spills in 2023. The average number of yearly spills per overflow increased from 23 in 2022 to 33 - one every two weeks. The total spills rose from 301,091 to 464,056.

The news became even grimmer - sewage was now released into UK waters for double the time in 2023 compared to 2022: 3.6 million hours - that's over 400 years.

There were fewer "well behaved" overflows as well. These now accounted for 40% of the total in 2023, with 13.9% not spilling at all. The majority of those designated for "exceptional" situations had become the norm.

Giles Bristow, the CEO of marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage, expressed his dismay, saying, "It's a total scandal." An alarming report released by this charity revealed that 1,924 people fell ill from swimming in the UK's waters between October 2022 and September 2023, a staggering three times more than the previous year. This has prompted the Liberal Democrats to campaign for compensation for these victims from the water companies.

Bristow places the blame on these private water companies, criticizing their "massive underinvestment," resulting in their failure to fulfill their duties. The UK's water services were privatized in 1989.

Richardson, one of the affected individuals, expressed his anger towards Thames Water, his service provider, whose business practices baffled him. "One part of my bill is for fresh water, while the other – more than half my bill – is for treating sewage," he said. "So it's shocking to find out that they're essentially dumping this into the ocean."

Thames Water has had past controversies, including a 2021 incident that resulted in a £4 million (about $5 million) fine for discharging half a million liters of raw sewage into streams near Richardson's home, killing thousands of fish. This incident was deemed "disgraceful" by the judge who presided over the case.

In November 2023, it was estimated that Thames Water had disposed of 72 billion liters of sewage into the Thames, England's longest river, since 2020. Despite not receiving a response from the company, they previously stated their intention to improve infrastructure to prevent future discharges.

Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage have created an app to show real-time information for beaches.

"It's like paying for your recycling to be taken away and finding out it's being dumped in the sea," Richardson told CNN. "We pay a lot for water in England. We're not asking them to make the rivers better – just not to dump stuff in there."

A widespread issue

Sewage in the water isn't a new phenomenon, nor is it limited to the UK. For example, in 2018, then-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte closed Boracay island in the Philippines for nearly six months, calling it a "cesspool." Even the United States has experienced sewage spills, which led to Long Beach, California's beach to close in 2022 and in April 2023.

Bristow, who still swimms in the water but recommends checking Surfers Against Sewage's real-time pollution-tracking app beforehand, regards water pollution as a "global issue." However, he also acknowledges that many countries are better at dealing with sewage and monitoring it, citing France, where the public can access daily updates on water quality in their region.

"The UK has consistently ranked among the bottom European countries in water cleanliness," said Bristow.

In 2020, when the UK was still part of the EU, the country had the lowest-quality bathing water in Europe, with only 17.2% of its beaches classified as excellent. This is a stark contrast to Cyprus, where all beaches met the excellent standard, or Greece, where 97.1% were rated as such. After the UK's exit from the EU, Poland took its place at the bottom of the table with 55.9% of its beaches receiving the excellent rating.

In 2019, only 14% of England's rivers and lakes were categorized as having "good ecological status."

In 2012, the European Commission took the UK to the European Court of Justice for violating wastewater regulations.

As Chris Whitty, former UK chief medical officer, wrote in his 2022 report, "Nobody wants a child to swallow human excrement."

"We don't want to be known as 'the dirty man of Europe' anymore," Tagholm, the CEO of Surfers Against Sewage, informed CNN that summer.

A sewage spill closed Long Beach, California, in April 2023.

Poop as a political issue

How can this be addressed?

The Victorian drainage system is often criticized for failing to accommodate today's levels of sewage. Additionally, rainwater runoff shares pipes with wastewater from homes and offices. Moreover, the increasing frequency and intensity of weather events related to the climate crisis contribute further complications.

However, these issues don't fully explain the UK's struggles with sewage. Reports from the Royal Society of Chemistry indicate that storm overflows should only be utilized when sewers are six times over their usual volume. However, data from UK's Met Office shows that 2021 and 2022 were notably drier than average, and 2023 was only 11% wetter than average.

Bristow calls for "smarter," climate-resilient solutions to cope with the UK's wetter future climate.

In his view, measures like reforesting areas to manage excessive rainfall and introducing wetlands can act as a "natural defense."

Surfers Against Sewage is vigorously fighting for an end to the discharge of wastewater into swimming areas and important natural habitats by the year 2030. They're currently in negotiations with all major political parties ahead of the UK's next general election, which must be held before January 28, 2025.

During this time, the government has installed monitors on every storm overflow in England. This enables them to collect valuable data.

The government's "Storm overflows discharge reduction plan," which was published in 2022, aims to have water companies significantly reduce the effect of storm overflows by 2050.

"Things are beginning to change direction," says Bristow. "If we make the right choices now, we can anticipate improvements by 2030. It's crucial to take action as soon as possible."

Storm overflows are a common sight on the UK's beaches. Here, a child is playing with the discharge from an overflow on Borth Beach, Wales.

This implies that we might experience beach pollution for another six years, but Bristow insists that people should not defer their visits to the UK's scenic coastlines due to sewage problems.

"Our beaches are among the most stunning in the world, and our communities are warm and welcoming," he says. "Go surfing, appreciate our beaches and our waves. But download the SAS app to stay informed about the conditions."

Read also:

The issue of sewage pollution in UK waters has led toCanceled swimming events and beach closures, such as the annual swim in the Thames and Brighton and Hove during the August bank holiday weekend.

The worsened state of UK beaches has become a major travel concern for many tourists, considering the risk of swimming in contaminated waters and the visual impact of storm overflow pipes discharging sewage onto beaches.

Source: edition.cnn.com