Hello lads and ladies,
Just a quick one for you today regarding sewage in our waterways. A few hours ago I was out in Trevaunance cove, in the fantastic small coastal town
of St Agnes in West Cornwall. In all honesty my favourite coastal area in the South West. I took a small hike down to the beach and saw that the surf was perfect for the first time in a week, so, I grabbed my board, stuck on a wetsuit and ran down the slipway to the beach. Noticing that there was very few people in the water, I just assumed that nobody wanted to head to the beach in the slight drizzle. I went out into the water and was met with some of the best surf of my life! I mean, I had the whole lineup to myself, perfect.
I was in the water for probably around an hour and a half before one of the locals warned me of the “raw sewage dumping” that was taking place in the stream that directly connects to the beach from a combined sewer overflow or C.S.O just upstream from the beach. Understandably I was disgusted and concerned that I’d ingested human shit or worse, contracted Covid-19 through the untreated sewage being pumped into the cove. (I’m not 100% sure weather that is possible, but there is some evidence that Covid-19 can be spread through human feces, have a look here for more info).
After some research, (and a lengthy shower to decontaminate), I found that you can contract a plethora of diseases and infections, including hepatitis A and norovirus from raw untreated human waste. I also came to realize that not only human shit was in the water around me, but other lovely items, such as used condoms, tampons, wipes and god knows what else! Not only is this absolutely disgusting but it is detrimental to the underwater ecosystems and waterways around the country! I’ve found some pretty disturbing information about our trusted water companies that I think you aught to know about…
C.S.O’s act as an emergency sewer overflow valves to be used in extraordinary circumstances to stop sewage backing up into UK household’s toilet systems. A fairly useful system, however, this process completely disregards the natural ecosystem of our waterways. Surely there must be a better way to dispose of our waste?
So, lets start with the year 2018, where CSO’s owned by Severn Trent, United utilities and Anglian water dumped untreated sewage into English waterways, like streams, rivers, beaches and bathing waters for 9 months none stop! That is disgraceful. These combined sewer overflows are only supposed to be utilized in extreme circumstances… So how have they managed to use them for 9 months of the year? You tell me. The commencing year was not much better unfortunately, as 2019 saw CSO’s being used 20,000 times, spilling all sorts of pollutants, litter and diseases into our waterways.
So what does this mean for the common Brit anyway? I mean, unless you’re a water dwelling, aquatic hominid, you shouldn’t need to worry… right? Well, if you have kids who want to paddle in your neighborhood stream, they could potentially be exposed to some very nasty stuff that was supposed to be cleaned by our trusted water companies. There is very little warning or services put in place to notify you of sewage spills, meaning you, your family or a pet could be in contact with human waste and diseases that could put them at high risk.
If you’re a fan of seafood, imagine breaking into a pile of mussels only to realize that the water they were reared in was full of pollutants that are concentrated in the mussels and would be entering your body! Not to mention the plastics and rubbish that is dumped into the water systems around the UK.
I love St Agnes with all my heart, by far my favourite place in England, but it pains me to see that big water treatment companies are getting away with this disgrace. This area of West Cornwall is a world heritage site. You’d get a hefty fine if you left your dog’s crap pile on the beach, so why the flying F*ck do we let massive corporations like South West Water, United Utilities, Severn Trent and Anglian Water get away with it scot free?!
This isn’t what I’d usually write about, but I feel it is incredibly important to talk about, especially in the current climate regarding Covid-19. If you feel as strongly as I do about this issue, please sign the petition on the Surfers against sewage website, which demands that all raw sewage discharges into our waterways be completely banned by the year 2030! And if you’ve got a few pennies lying around, please donate to the cause. (I’m not in any way being paid by SAS to write this, I just don’t like swimming in shit and hate to see the scumbags that let this slide get away with it).
So on your next trip down the seaside, don’t forget your Hazmat suit, CBRN gas mask, gloves, disinfectant spray and surfboard. If you don’t want a future where you have to balance your health and your passion for our great land’s coastline, sign the petitions, check out some of the other groups wanting change, such as the MarineConservationSociety, BeachClean.org, PlasticOceans.uk, and of course, SurfersAgainstSewage. Also, download the Safer seas app on IPhone or Android to check the water quality of your favourite beaches, and receive alerts as to if and when sewage is in the water or streams that connect to that area, well worth a download (I wish I had it earlier this morning).
That’s all from me today, just a small but important post that I think more should be made aware of. Its 2020, we live in the future, but somehow our waste management systems are still in the dark ages. This really needs to change, and it’s up to us and our generation to hold the people responsible for this abomination accountable!
Cheers for reading!
~Josh
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