Sewage on the beach

Article from the Avertiser page 4 August 18, 2011 by George Willy.

RAW SEWAGE ON THE BEACH.

With our busy simmer season in full swing , about the last thing we want is the news of a sewage spill located in the press as happening ' just yards from Swanage's Blue Flag beach.'

Wessex Water has launched an investigation into what is delicately described as ' sewage solids ' that escaped onto the privately-owned beach at Ocean Bay following recent intense rainfalls.

As the report makes clear , if the spill had happened on the adjoining public beach- which is of course owned by Swanage council - we would be disqualified from having a Blue Flag. The award recognises ' excellence in cleanliness.'
Beach owner Dick Woodford said ' The thing that appalled me is that it took Wessex Water 24 hours to turn out.I spent the first day cleaning up the mess on my own.'
Wessex Water said the spillage occurred ' following a period of intense rainfall which temporarily inundated the system'
The result was that what were delicately described as ' sewage solids ' escaped into a private beach - ' a very important seafront area.'


So anyway being a member of Surfers Against Sewage and I am hoping soon to be a representative for the them for Swanage and Durlston bay. I find this appalling and upsetting not just for myself and my family , but for the many people who use our beach.

This is SAS’s core campaign protecting the health of recreational water users from sewage polluted water.

Scientific studies have consistently highlighted that those using beaches, lakes or rivers for sports are most at risk of falling sick from an illness associated with sewage polluted water. In some cases this risk is 3 times greater than your typical bather because sports like surfing involve more immersion and ingestion of water.

Despite SAS’s success at virtually eliminating continuous sewage outfalls there are some notable brown spots’ across the country where raw sewage is still discharged on a daily basis and these areas are subject to current SAS campaigning. The main examples of this are in Brighton, Guernsey, The Thames and Northern Ireland.

We are also seeking improvements to the combined sewer overflow (CSOs) systems that pollute recreational waters all too frequently, usually after heavy rainfall.

The way water companies plan their investment programmes also requires major attention. Much of the current investment has ignored or disregarded the impacts of climate change, in particular changing weather patterns that will result in increased flows of water into and out of the sewage works without treatment because there is not enough capacity to store the sewage. It is therefore discharged through CSO’s. More pollution incidents are expected because of this and that means more time out of the water for the likes of YOU and US!

Surfers Against Sewage have a alert text system which is free to sign up too , which I myself use and many times during the summer have received text stating sewage is going to the bay. I suggest anyone to have this text service. Link here
http://www.sas.org.uk/campaigns/sewage-and-sickness/sewage-alert-service/.

I hope this is sorted out soon and make everyone feel safe to use our beach.



Posted by David Furmage to swanageview at 17/8/11 6:01 PM