The latest water quality report from Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) reveals that Between 1st October 2019 and 30th September 2020, a total of 2,941 Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) discharge notifications were issued through the Safer Seas Service, a real time alert system for sea water users of pollution releases which is based on information they access from water companies and information from the Environment Agency’s pollution risk forecasts.
Their analysis also revealed that Southern Water failed to provide CSO discharge notifications for popular and important Bathing Waters impacted by their sewer assets, throughout the whole of the 2020 Bathing Season. In comparison to the 690 sewage spill notifications issued by Southern Water in 2019, they only managed to issue 78 alerts this year, stating “notifications should have been sent but frustratingly they weren’t”. Their failure to provide this information has put thousands of water users at risk. Over 20% of health reports submitted to SAS this year were from locations within Southern Water’s catchment with a total of 7 submitted for Hove Lawn alone – these are just the locations we know about. These illnesses could have been prevented if discharge notifications had been issued.