Protesters to take to beaches over sewage discharges into English seas

theguardian.com:

Protests against sewage discharges blighting English beaches will take place across the country this weekend to highlight what demonstrators say is the failure of water companies to reduce pollution.

From Falmouth in Cornwall, where bathers, lifeguards and synchronised swimmers are demonstrating, to Whitstable in Kent, where protesters will turn a beach into a crime scene, activists say the problem of sewage discharges by water companies has not improved.

The demonstrations come after the water regulator, Ofwat, this week issued penalties of millions of pounds to many water companies for pollution incidents, missing compliance targets for treatment works and internal sewer flooding in 2021 and 2022. The amounts must be taken off customers’ bills, Ofwat said.

Swimmers and beachgoers will barricade Tankerton beach near Whitstable on Sunday to identify it as a “crime scene”. Ed Acteson, from campaign group SOS Whitstable, said the demonstration was taking place a year after the first beach protest garnered huge support: “We were really optimistic that after the huge turnout last year, the public support and media attention, that there would be significant changes. But if anything, it has got worse.

“The government’s storm overflows discharge reduction plan seems to have made it easier for companies. Southern Water has been issued with another penalty for pollution and there have been more than 100 hours of raw sewage discharges into Tankerton beach this year alone.”

Data shows that so far in 2022, there have been 67 combined storm overflow releases over 44 days – totalling 166.6 hours – into Tankerton beach.

In July, Southern Water was awarded one out of five stars by the Environment Agency, making it one of the two worst-rated