Foreword from the SAS report, which was reported in last week’s news

“Our ocean is an unrivalled life force on our planet, a force which is imperative to every living creature on earth. As humans our connection with and to the ocean goes back millennia. It gives us the air we breathe, it controls our weather patterns, supplies billions of people with food to eat as well as their livelihoods. It enriches our lives and is home to millions of diverse species. From the darkest depths to sandy beaches, the ocean – and the ecosystem it produces – is part of all of us.

But for hundreds of years, we have done nothing but destroy it. We have desolated diverse and abundant underwater communities thriving with life, which are now nothing but lifeless rubble. Graveyards of a time that once was. We have used the ocean as a dumping ground for unwanted objects, toxic chemicals, and human waste. An endless rubbish tip for whatever we choose.

But now in 2022, we are starting to understand the devastation we have caused and are striving to change our polluting ways…or so we are led to believe. It is more than a catastrophe that despite our thorough and comprehensive knowledge of these travesties, water companies continue to pour untreated sewage into the ocean, it’s likely another discharge has occurred by the time you have read this paragraph.

Water UK Statement on Surfers Against Sewage Water Quality Report

“The sector acknowledges there is an urgent need to tackle storm overflows. They are set to launch one of the country’s largest ever infrastructure programmes, which, if approved by regulators, will deliver £56 billion of improvements for our rivers and seas. That builds on at least £3 billion of improvements in the last couple of years alone.

“To accelerate progress further, we need Government to end housing developers’ uncontrolled connections to sewers without first knowing their capacity, and to end the flushing of wet wipes made from materials that cause blockages and fatbergs. Both are major causes of sewer overloading and spills. We also need Government to implement existing legislation in order to increase the use of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) on new developments as a means of reducing the volume of rainwater entering the sewer system.”

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