Southern Water turning Sussex rivers and beaches into sewers ‘Victorians would be ashamed of’

Last week, Southern Water told SussexWorld that Sewage discharges reported as being dumped into bathing water at Seaford beach were made of up to ‘95% rainwater’.

These remarks angered John Kay, chair of the Lewes District branch of CPRE Sussex, claimed the water firm were taking the same level of responsibility as someone who has been drink-driving.

Mr Kay said: “That is exactly the same logic, and shows the same level of social responsibility, as the drunk driver explaining to the police that his drinking beer cannot have affected his driving, because beer is over 95% water.

“The drunk's claim is at least factually correct. As Southern Water knows very well, the "storm overflows" from its more dysfunctional sewage works, like that serving Ringmer where I live, is closer to wine or even spirits than beer. The cunning "up to" in its claim is there to mislead and deceive."

Mr Kay says Southern Water assures Lewes District Council planners that there is "additional headroom" in its Ringmer sewage works to allow new houses to be connected to it.

However, he says the company omits to mention that this reassurance applies only in dry weather. As soon as the village has any rain, this sewage works is overwhelmed.

He said: “Southern Water has been happy to connect more and more new houses to its creaking sewage works because every new house is a new customer providing it with extra income.

"Why does this happen? Because Southern Water has chosen for decades to divert far too much of our water rates to shareholders' dividends and directors' bonuses and far too little to investment in delivering the services.

“It is supposed to provide and because its regulators have complaisantly allowed it to do so, converting our Sussex rivers and beaches into sewers the Victorians would have been ashamed of.”

Southern Water said increased rainfall can put extra pressure on its sewer network when large volumes of surface water enter the system.

Therefore, to protect homes, schools and businesses from flooding, storm overflows provide a release valve to allow excess flows to enter the environment.

According to data published by the Environment Agency, 10% of Ringmer's sewage was discharged untreated in 2021, something which Mr Kay believes is unacceptable for a community of 5,000 people.

The CPRE Sussex said: “Genuine "storm overflows" are indeed necessary, but they should only happen when there are storms. In 2021 the Ringmer sewage works, on the company's own data, suffered 68 such events.

"Were there 68 storms in Ringmer in 2021, more than one a week? No, nothing like that. Maybe a handful. Multiplying the number of these events by their average duration shows that this sewage works was releasing untreated sewage from a community of 5,000 people for over 10% of the time. That is, every time there is even moderate rain.”

In response, a Southern Water spokesperson said: “We know that this is not an acceptable system moving forwards, and as part of £2bn of investment in our network between 2020 and 2025, we are working hard to reduce our reliance of storm overflows. We are doing this through a combination of innovative engineering and nature-based solutions, supported by close partnership working and an emphasis on slowing the flow of rainfall into our sewers.

“Our recently published annual bathing water update details how we are working to create healthier rivers and seas.

“Impacts of climate change and more hard surfaces in the community (for example large car parks, paved driveways and gardens) mean more rain is running into drains and into the network.”