Southern Water has admitted it does not know how much raw sewage it is pumping into popular sea locations along the south Kent coast.
The coast from Romney to Folkestone has six officially approved bathing sites and welcomes more than 200,000 visitors a year, who bring in more than £30m to the local economy.
Southern Water, has already discharged sewage into the sea where the bathing sites are located more than 250 times. But it has now admitted it is unable to say how much sewage it pours into the sea because it does not measure the volume, a common problem to water companies across the UK.
Southern Water has been required to fit its sewage overflows with event duration monitors (EDMs) which show when and for how long an outlet has discharged.
beach visitor numbers are down and this may we’ll have an impact on local businesses
These sensors provide real-time data to the public about spills in or near bathing waters with Southern’s Beachbuoy system. However, they do not monitor how much liquid flows past them. While water companies are meant to know how much sewage passes through their treatment works, they are not required to monitor how much they discharge.
It means that neither the water companies, regulators or the public know how much sewage is being pumped into our rivers and seas.
According to the Safer Seas and Rivers app there have already been 138 alerts for Hythe this year. Of the six bathing sites, one, St Mary’s Bay, was closed by the local council for a year in February. The Environment Agency is still investigating the cause of the spike in harmful bacteria. It has not been linked to Southern Water.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said ‘The Environment Agency continues to work with its partners to fully investigate the reasons for the decline in bathing water quality at St Mary’s Bay. All agencies involved are committed to improving water quality at our beaches. As part of our investigations, we are monitoring several potential sources of pollution including septic tanks, misconnections and potential sources of diffuse pollution’.
