Better Sewage Treatment (join the campaign)
You can’t boycott water companies, but you can join campaigns for them to invest more in treating sewage, instead of giving huge profits to shareholders.
Rainwater in theory should dilute sewage, but with a population of 60 million people, it’s no longer possible to rely on a downpour to treat it for us.
You can report sewage pollution. Signs are:
- Distressed animals (call local wildlife rescue) or dead animals or fish (gasping for air)
- ‘Toilet waste’ (bathroom tissue and things that should not be flushed but are: wet wipes, condoms, sanitary towels/tampons)
- Bad odours and brown water. Treated water is grey or black. Surfers Against Sewage writes that ‘if the water’s brown and smells like shit – it probably is’.
You can email your MP about illegal discharge of raw sewage. Surfers Against Sewage says that if brown foamy water is lapping at the shore and ‘smells funky – it’s probably shit’.
What Causes Sewage Pollution?
The main cause is Sewer Overflows (it’s legal for water companies to discharge untreated wastewater during heavy rain periods, but this is now happening more on a routine basis, using an old system that can’t cope). Major investment is needed, but instead water companies are giving out billions in dividends
In 2023, Anglian Water was fined £2.65 million for letting untreated sewage overflow into the North Sea due to decommissioning equipment, and failed to act on data due to no alarm system). This is to date, England’s largest ever environmental fine.
Many people get ill from swimming in our seas and rivers. You can submit a sickness report to help their monitoring and campaigning. Risks include gastroenteritis, hepatitis and E.coli (bodyguards and wild swimmers are three times more likely, to carry this antibiotic-resistant bacteria in their guts).
Download the Surfers against Sewage app to report sickness or pollution, to help them take action against water companies that don’t clean up their mess.
Sewage adds something called phosphorus, which creates algae blooms, and this starves the lakes of oxygen (the same reason why environmentalists say to avoid phosphates and chemicals in laundry powder – search our site, we list loads of alternatives!)
Eventually blooms explode and kill surrounding wildlife and fish. Many fish have suffered at nearby Cunsey Beck including Atlantic salmon, white-clawed crayfish, European river eels, trout, pike and perch. The Arctic charr (the local species of fish that has existed since the Ice Age) is now extinct locally.
Stop Raw Sewage Pollution on Lake Windermere
The sewage dumping issue on Lake Windermere (England’s largest body of water) is a national scandal. Thankfully the Save Windermere campaign is having some success, thanks to the amazing efforts of its volunteers, who also are very knowledgeable about the subject (good science always helps to get your point across, when dealing with gormless politicians).
Founder Matt studied zoology (that’s wild animals, not zoos) but on returning home to the Lake District, he broke his neck in a car accident. One thing that helped him to recover both physically and mentally was wild swimming – until he discovered what he was swimming with. In a word – sh*t.
Appalled to find that raw sewage was being dumped in Lake Windermere by companies that were giving away millions in dividends to shareholders, he decided to take action. This Community Interest Company is now becoming as well-known as Surfers Against Sewage, campaigning with the facts:
There has been a 75% reduction of invertebrates on Wilfin Beck (Far Sawrey Wastewater Treatment Works) And a 64% reduction of invertebrates on the Rothay (Ambleside Wastewater Treatment Works)
The Windermere catchment generates £750 million from tourism each year. If someone were to get seriously ill or die as a result of pollution in Windermere, the impact on the local economy would be catastrophic. Save Windermere
What can you do? If you’re a resident, visitor or someone who simply care, write to your MP and ask him or her what they are doing, to get involved in the effort.
From 2021 to 2023, the local water company illegally dumped over 140 million litres of raw sewage into Lake Windermere. It was only discovered due to a BBC investigation, otherwise we still would not know.
Sewage pollution not only makes the water unsafe for drinking and swimming (children, tourists, dogs), but causes algae bloom, which chokes oxygen out of the water, killing fish and marine creatures.
And now the company has been forced to upgrade its infrastructure, it plans to raise customer bills by 32% above inflation over the next five years, to pay for it?
