Almost 40 beaches and popular swimming spots in Devon have been hit with sewage pollution warnings following a weekend of heavy rain. Todays warnings come after Devon and the South West was battered with rain over the weekend.
A total of 37 locations across Devon have been hit with sewage pollution warnings today. Charity and campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) have issued a shocking number of alerts and warnings across the region today, including 41 in Cornwall.
South West Water’s bathing water quality map also shows that most of Devon’s coastline has been affected by overflows. This means that sewage has been discharged into the sea.
Sewage dumps are often blamed on heavy rainfall as overflows prevent drains from being overwhelmed. According to SAS, a sewage pollution alert means “storm sewage has been discharged from a sewer overflow in this location within the past 48 hours” and a “pollution risk forecast or incident alert” means there is potential for sewage to be in the area.
According to the Safer Seas & Rivers Service map, the following locations in Devon have sewage pollution warnings in place:
- Seaton
- Beer
- Sidmouth Town
- Budleigh Salterton
- Sandy Bay
- Exmouth
- Dawlish Town
- Dawlish Coryton Cove
- Teignmouth Holcombe
- Teignmouth Town
- Meadfoot
- Beacon Cove
- Torre Abbey
- Paignton Preston Sands
- Goodrington
- St Marys Bay
- Steamer Quay Dart
- Stoke Gabriel Darts Estuary
- Dittisham Dart Estuary
- Dartmouth Castle and Sugary Cove
- Warfleet Creek Dart Estuary
- Slapton Sands Torcross
- Mill Bay
- Salcombe North Sands
- Hope Cove
- Thurlestone South
- Coastguards Beach Erme Estuary
- Mothercombe
- Plymouth Hoe East
- Plymouth Hoe West
- Firestone Bay
- Westward Ho!
- Instow
- Croyde Bay
- Woolacombe Village
- Ilfracombe Hele
- Lynton
Use of storm overflows is allowed during heavy rain fall, to avoid sewer networks becoming overwhelmed and risking sewage backing up into homes and businesses. However, many believe storm overflows are used far more regularly than they ought to and people are becoming increasingly fed up with the regular sewage pollution.
The Environment Agency (EA) has activated seven ‘act now’ flood alerts in Devon, warning residents in those areas that flooding is expected. Meanwhile, 15 more locations face ‘possible’ flooding, with yellow alerts active. Follow our live blog here for the latest weather updates.