We plunge into the murky waters of storm overflow – or sewage dumping, depending on your point of view, for a long read on what is happening to our coast. We talk to those on both sides of the argument about how Southern Water operates the sewerage system as we examine the controversy.
The quality of East Sussex bathing waters has become a controversial issue in the last couple of years as anger has mounted over the activities of water companies across the country.
Southern Water was fined £90 million in July 2021 after admitting thousands of illegal discharges of sewage which polluted rivers and coastal waters in Sussex, Kent, and Hampshire.
Storm overflows, such as the one at Holywell above, have been used repeatedly to discharge a mixture of rainwater and raw sewage into the sea across the country in recent years during heavy rainfall.
This is supposed to be used in emergencies to relieve pressure on the system.
But Southern Water was responsible for a total of 372 pollution incidents in 2021, 12 of them serious, according to the Environment Agency, which downgraded the company to a one-star rating (out of four).
Many Tory MPs recently voted for environmental regulations which included, according to the Government, restoring “precious water bodies” to their natural state by cracking down on harmful pollution from sewers by 2038.
Conservative MPs, including Caroline Ansell in Eastbourne, have been accused by Liberal Democrats of voting in favour of sewage dumping, a charge they reject.
Ms Ansell was one of 292 of her party’s MPs who voted in favour of new environmental regulations in January which will allow the practice to continue until 2038. The Lib Dems portrayed this as allowing “15 more years of sewage dumping”.
We talk to those involved including the MP, the Liberal Democratic parliamentary candidate for Eastbourne, swimmers – and we requested an interview with Southern Water.
The Environment Agency
The Environment Agency – a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs – was highly scathing of the performance of water companies in its annual report last July.
It said that in 2021 the performance of the nine companies in England fell to the lowest level seen since the assessment began in 2011.
The agency called for prison sentences for bosses whose companies are responsible for the most serious incidents and for company directors to be struck off so they cannot continue their careers after illegal environmental damage.
Agency chair Emma Howard Boyd said: “For years people have seen executives and investors handsomely rewarded while the environment pays the price.
“Company directors let this happen. We plan to make it too painful for them to continue like this. The amount a company can be fined for environmental crimes is unlimited but fines currently handed down by the courts often amount to less than a Chief Executive’s salary.
“We need courts to impose much higher fines. Investors should no longer see England’s water monopolies as a one-way bet.”
Critics argue that ministers in successive Conservative governments have had the chance to tighten up water regulation for more than a decade and failed to do so.
When Liz Truss was environment secretary, she oversaw a £24m cut to environmental protection, which included surveillance of water companies to prevent raw sewage release.
The Environment Agency report concluded: “The water companies are behaving like this for a simple reason: because they can.”
Southern Water
We asked Southern Water for an interview about its record on pollution incidents and its one-star rating. We explained it was part of a feature explaining the issue from everyone’s point of view.
A press officer replied: “Unfortunately, on this occasion we cannot offer anyone for interview.” They instead sent links relating to PR content, including a bathing water update from November 2022 which states it is investing £2 billion from 2020 to 2025 to significantly improve performance.
Southern Water’s operating profit for 2021 / 22 was £138.8 million but the £90 million fine from the Environment Agency had to be paid from this.
It has not paid a dividend to shareholders this year.
The outgoing chief executive officer Ian McAuley retired in December 2022. His remuneration package comprised £435,000 basic salary, a £435,000 bonus and a further £435,000 for securing a £500 million investment from Macquarie Investment Bank of Australia, which took a majority stake in Southern Water in August 2021. This was a total of £1.323 million, according to page 186 of Southern Water’s annual report.
The MP
Conservative Eastbourne MP Caroline Ansell, below, is frustrated by the representation that Tory MPs had voted to dump sewage into the sea.
“I would never vote to pump raw sewage into the sea! Any idea that I am not wholeheartedly committed to seeing clean seas is for the birds,” she told the Eastbourne Reporter.
The vote concerned Government legislation called The Environmental Targets (Water) (England) Regulations 2023. This states, under wastewater target: “The second target in respect of water is that the load of total phosphorus discharged into fresh waters from relevant discharges is, by 31st December 2038, at least 80% lower than the baseline.”
She said the sea quality reading was downgraded from ‘Good’ to ‘Sufficient’ in Eastbourne last year by the Environment Agency due to four outlier samples out of weekly readings across the summer, shown in the chart below.
The grading ‘Sufficient’ means the water meets the minimum standard.
Ms Ansell acknowledged there was a power failure at a Southern Water waste treatment plant in February 2022 which switched to overflow.
However, she said: “People say the water is toxic, but that is really not the case. It is perfectly safe to go into the water.”
Would she swim in the sea here? “I would be happy to swim in the sea,” she said.
But critics point out that the water companies, which were privatised in 1989 under Margaret Thatcher’s government, have had decades in which to invest in better infrastructure.
Ms Ansell said of the environment legislation going through Parliament: “We want to reach for the highest water quality and there is a plan for massive investment.
“We are going as far and as fast as is deliverable. We cannot set targets which you can’t hope to reach. There is £56 billion of capital investment. The main problem is the need to separate sewer from surface water.
“There is quite a new culture and ambition at Southern Water – they are changing. They want to beat the target. There is an expectation of progress every year.”
She said that reducing the amount of rainwater which goes into sewers with measures such as water butts, smaller driveway areas and ‘living’ roofs can help.
“Everyone has a part to play. For example, not putting wet wipes down the toilet – this leads to storm overflow and blocked drains.”
The Liberal Democrats
The party ran a campaign suggesting that ‘292 Conservative MPs voted to allow sewage dumping by water companies in our rivers and coasts for at least 15 more years’.
It is the case that 292 Conservatives voted in favour of the Draft Environmental Targets (Water) Regulations 2022.
The UK’s national news agency PA Media noted that the new regulation to reduce phosphorus from discharges by 2038 does technically allow water sewage to be dumped in rivers for another 15 years. But Tories argued the vote was on a targeted reduction and the Lib Dems have twisted the narrative.
Coun Babarinde, who represents Hampden Park ward on Eastbourne Borough Council, is the Liberal Democrat aiming to replace Ms Ansell at the next general election and overturn her 4,331-vote majority.
He has been vocal in raising the issue of sewage dumping in nearby coastal waters, joining a seafront protest march of swimmers, paddleboarders and residents last August (above).
Campaigners maintain that the timescales for cleaning up the act of water companies should be shorter but many Conservative MPs have argued that infrastructure changes required to meet this would cost billions and consumers would face higher water bills.
However, Coun Babarinde told the Eastbourne Reporter that there should be a sewage tax on water companies and a ban on bonuses for top executives until they get the situation under control.
He accused some Conservatives of “acting like the PR department of Southern Water”.
And he rejects criticism he has received for talking about it publicly in an area where the coastline is a big visitor attraction. “Maybe if the Government was regulating properly, there would be no discharge to talk about. Putting our heads in the sand is not the way to deal with it,” he told us.
Coun Babarinde said he has heard Conservative MPs suggest that there was no need to be too concerned as only 5% of the discharge was sewage.
“Would it be okay if you had a bath and 95% of the water was clean, and 5% was sewage? Of course that would not be okay.
“The Government has not done enough to regulate water companies for ordinary people.”
The swimmer
Former Eastbourne mayor Carolyn Heaps, a regular sea swimmer, is uncompromising about the situation.
“The whole idea of Southern Water’s eye-watering salaries and of them giving us sod-all in return is appalling. They keep blaming the Victorian infrastructure – well, they should spend their money on it.
“Discharge into the sea has become normal practice. They have been allowed to get away with it for so long.”
Ms Heaps, above, founded the women-only sea swimming group Silver Dippers during the 2020 lockdown. They swim regularly near Holywell but could not do so several times last summer and autumn due to discharges after storms.
Ms Heaps, who is no longer a councillor, spoke at a meeting of Eastbourne Borough Council in February 2022 which was debating a motion calling on Southern Water to “take robust action” to prevent discharges and for the Government to introduce a “sewage tax” on water company profits to provide compensation.
She wore a brown velvet trouser suit and a poo-shaped hat to address councillors. “I told them they were passing a motion about passing motions,” she said.
Another group, Eastbourne Sea Swimmers, who plunge in year-round from the beach near the Langham Hotel, are planning a protest march along the seafront next month.
Despite assertions from both Government and water companies that they are working to clean up our waterways and sea, many along the coast appear unconvinced.
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I am pleased to hear that no dividends were paid this year. Nevertheless, I think it is essential to keep the pressure on so Eastbourne water quality can be restored to the “good” quality standards it deserves.
Great reporting Rebecca, and keep us posted!