VIDEO: Outrage as ‘raw sewage’ pumped into water at Cornish beach

Update: South West Water initially confirmed it had allowed a storm overflow to run into the water at St Agnes beach. However, in April 2022, subsequent testing confirmed that this specific incident was agricultural run-off and had nothing to do with the water firm’s assets.

While South West Water was fined £2.15m in April 2023 for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea in Devon and Cornwall, these incidents were not related to the release at St Agnes beach.

There was outrage after witnesses reported ‘raw sewage’ being pumped into the water at a picturesque public beach in Cornwall this weekend, in the latest in a series of water pollution incidents across the country this year.

Footage filmed on Sunday (30 October) shows the clear blue water at St Agnes beach turning a murky shade of brown.

British water firms have been criticised this year for the number of pollution incidents taking place under their watch. In August, beachgoers were told to keep out of the water across dozens of beaches in the UK, after untreated sewage was pumped into the sea following storms.

While it is illegal to dump sewage in the sea, water firms make ‘controlled’ releases when water overflows.

Around 14,500 storm overflows are in operation across England to keep sewers from becoming overwhelmed. As our Victorian-era sewers are pushed to capacity, sewage is increasingly being discharged by water companies into rivers, coastal waters and other waterways. 

Last year alone, there were 372,533 sewage spills. 

Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage reports that, as of 5pm on Sunday, eight of Cornwall’s beaches were unusable due to sewage releases.

A South West Water spokesman said: “This year, the South West has seen the dramatic changes in weather patterns presented by climate change, as demonstrated in August when the region was declared in drought. 

“Through these changes, we are now experiencing more extreme weather patterns than ever before and this year the south west saw one of the driest and hottest years on record.

“As well as prolonged periods of extremely hot weather, we have seen heavy localised rainfall which hasn’t been able to permeate into the dry ground, meaning significant volumes run into our network, which can cause our storm overflows to trigger.

“Following heavy, localised rainfall this morning (Sunday 30 October), a permitted storm overflow triggered at Trevaunance Cove in St Agnes, Cornwall.

“Storm overflows are designed to release excess stormwater into rivers and seas when a prolonged rainfall occurs to prevent the risk of sewage backing up and flooding homes and public spaces by allowing a controlled release.

“We continue to increase investment in the region’s infrastructure as part of our continued commitment to protecting and enhancing the natural environment.”

One social-media user expressed their outrage under the video: “This is why I no longer take the kids to the beaches here in Cornwall, it’s revolting!”, they wrote. Another user shared the video of the sewage with the caption, “Speechless”.

The Good Law Project has launched a campaign to stop water companies from dumping sewage in our rivers and coastal waters.

The project has joined with Richard Haward’s Oysters; and surfer and campaigner, Hugo Tagholm, to compel the government to rewrite its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan to impose much tighter deadlines on water companies to clean up their act. They are also in discussions with other potential claimants, who may be added to the claim later.