‘No more poo’: British paddle against sea pollution
Surfers and paddlers rallied at sea and on the beaches on Saturday (May 20) against the continued dumping of untreated sewage by water companies, in Brighton, England.
Protestors held signs on the beach and in the water written: “NO MORE POO”, “FISHES NOT FAECES!” and “HANDS OFF OUR WATER!”
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) organised the demonstration which was led by swimmers, kayakers and paddlers.
Izzy Ross , SAS campaigns manager, said. “We've seen over the last year, 720 or more sickness case studies where people have got sick when they've gone in the sea from this sewage pollution. We've seen cases of vomiting, diarrhoea, UTIs, ear infections, eye infections. It's disgusting.
“And we don't deserve that sort of exposure when we're in the sea. The water companies need to take action and that's why we're protesting today.”
The campaigners have taken to the water at 12 bathing spots around the UK to demand an end to sewage discharges into the country’s seas and rivers.
Last February British utility Thames Water said it plans to invest 1.6 billion pounds ($1.92 billion) in the next two years to cut discharges into rivers and tackle pollution, after UK water firms faced a backlash over sewage outflows into waterways.
England and Wales water regulator Ofwat and Britain's Environment Agency are investigating several water companies that admitted they might be illegally discharging sewage.
Last year Ofwat served formal notices to Thames Water and others over concerns about the firm's responses to its queries on their sewage treatment operations.
British water treatment facilities temporarily discharge raw sewage into seas and rivers if they are inundated by heavy rainfall and risk flooding, but the government in 2021 put legal controls on the amount of wastewater companies could dump.
Reuters
