Eastbourne’s Southern Water sewage leak condemned as a ‘disaster’

The raw sewage discharge started on Saturday evening (February 5) following an electrical fault.

With no back up system in place the multi-million pound water company had to wait for a portable generator to arrive at the site.

The treatment works wasn’t fully operational again until Monday (February 7). Southern Water said that all spills were stopped by 12.30 on Sunday (Febraru 6), stating that there was considerably damage done by flooding in the basement of the works and work continued but there was no further release.

Councillor David Tutt, Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, said, “Yet another raw sewage disaster courtesy of Southern Water and this time it’s in Eastbourne.

“I am absolutely furious that they don’t have a generator on site all the time, instead they have to wait for one to arrive while raw sewage is flooding into the sea.

“They can’t use their decaying Victorian infrastructure excuse this time, the water treatment works was built in 1997 and yet the response to an electrical fault is nothing short of third world, it’s disgraceful.”

With the huge increase in open water swimming in the sea around Eastbourne in recent times, local groups have also reacted angrily to news about Southern Water’s latest raw sewage discharge.

Eastbourne Sea Swimmers said, “This is highly irresponsible behaviour from Southern Water.

“Discharging sewage into the sea is very damaging and our members are getting increasingly concerned about sea water quality as these incidents are happening more and more frequently.

“Many more people are swimming in Eastbourne all year round for a variety of health reasons. We need strong leadership in Eastbourne to make changes in the way sewage and drain water is processed.

“Our wonderful coast is arguably one of Eastbourne’s greatest attributes and sewage pouring into the sea is putting this at risk.”

In 2021 Southern Water was sentenced to pay a record £90 million fine for widespread pollution after pleading guilty to 6,971 unpermitted sewage discharges; despite the size of the fine the company still reported profits of £138.8 million.

Councillor Tutt added, “Eastbourne’s tourism industry has been hammered over the last two years by covid and now Southern Water has put the raw sewage equivalent of a Great White Shark in the water off Eastbourne.

“Our hospitality sector is looking forward to welcoming millions of visitors during the summer and the last thing we need is Southern Water polluting the sea just months before they arrive.”

Southern Water has confirmed to the council that they are patrolling Eastbourne beaches for any physical signs of the raw sewage.

A spokesperson for Southern Water said, “The intermittent releases took place during the stormy weather over the early hours of Sunday morning. Tankers were used to mitigate this and pumping station further along the pipes. We continue to conduct beach walks but no evidence of impact on the beach has been found.”