Anyone travelling to Cornwall for the Easter Bank Holiday weekend has been warned to avoid entering the sea at a large number of beaches. A staggering amount of sewage pollution warnings have been put in place amid a 24-hour torrential rain warning. According to Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), a charity campaign group, sewage has been released into the water at 36 different beaches.
The charity has outlined the locations across the county where sewage overspills have been discharged, which often happens after heavy rain. The dozens of beaches and swimming spots affected have a warning alert in place with Brits advised against entering the sea. A sewage pollution alert means “storm sewage has been discharged from a sewer overflow in this location within the past 48 hours”, according to SAS. A “pollution risk forecast or incident alert” means there is a chance that sewage will be in the area.
When there is heavy rainfall, a device known as South West Water’s (SWW) combined storm/sewage overflows (CSOs) automatically opens to prevent drains from being overwhelmed. The device mixes household sewage and surface run-off water, which can overflow with rain back waste up into homes.
The downside to the system is that sewage will then end up in the sea.
Last year, the charity received 1,853 sickness reports through its Safer Seas & Rivers Service app which averages at five people every day.
Across the country, storm overflows unleashed sewage into rivers, lakes and beaches for more than 3.61 million hours in 2024, Environment Agency figures show. A total of 450,398 spills were recorded – a measure that should only take place in “exceptional circumstances”.
