4,500 pollution & sewage alerts on North East coastline in last 5 years

A group of surfers who monitor how much pollution and sewage goes into the sea have recorded nearly 4,500 pollution or sewage discharge alerts on the North East coast from Berwick to Scarborough in the last five years.

The data, which can be found on the Surfers Against Sewage map, shows there have been 4,465 pollution or sewage discharge alerts since the start of 2019 at North East bathing waters, 505 so far in 2023 and 152 people have reported becoming ill after bathing at those beaches this year alone.

Just in the past week, there have been 14 incidents of pollution or sewage discharge alerts, and 182 in total in August.

Steve Crawford, who represents the group in Scarborough told ITV News “We want to be able to go into the sea and feel safe doing it. We don’t want to feel threatened. It’s their (water companies) infrastructure. They’ve had billions of pounds paid. They’ve paid billions of pounds out over the years to shareholders and in wages. That money has to go back into the infrastructure to stop that happening.”

He claims that he has had to close down his business this summer as the pollution is preventing him from providing a safe environment for his customers to learn surfing. 

He said: “I’ve lost my job because of it and I want to go back to work and just do what I love doing. I’ve taught surfing for 17 years and that’s been knocked on the head since the 6 May.”

On Scarborough’s South Bay there are visible signs warning of the poor water quality, but that is based on data from samples taken a year ago.

Mr Crawford said he wants more real-time testing of the water in order to give bathers more up-to-date information to base their decisions on.

He explained: “They (Environment Agency) test North bay on a Monday. Say on a Tuesday this pipe discharged. it can be horrendous pollution, but people are still going in, being told it’s ok, because there’s not been a test until the next week. So that whole time in between there’s no information at all about how bad the water is, so people coming in good faith to try and go for a swim are being told it’s ok, but this has polluted it. We know it’s polluted it and people are still going in the water and this is the thing that really concerns me.”

Yorkshire Water told ITV News it will have “near real-time” reporting of sewage discharges on all of its sewer overflows (CSOs) in the coming months. It said it has spent £110m improving CSOs and storage facilities to improve water quality and is working with North Yorkshire Council to fast track more investment to further improve infrastructure. 

The company added that pollution of the sea is a “complex” issue and that there a many possible sources of pollution, including CSOs, agriculture, industry, wildlife and road drainage.

The Environment Agency said it has “driven up” sampling and monitoring of water quality, takes “tough action” on rule breaking companies and is investigating with water companies and local authorities what the primary sources are for bathing waters that have poor quality water.

Issues have been raised around the signage at Cullercoats. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Cullercoats Signage Issues

Further up the coast in Cullercoats, North Tyneside, early morning bathers told ITV News they were either unaware the water quality there was rated as “poor” or had not noticed the signage indicating it is.

One swimmer said: “The problem with the sign is that at the top of the sign it says the bathing is high quality, which I believe is an error, but then at the bottom of the sign it does give the correct information that it’s been designated as ‘poor’. The perspex is quite fuzzy, it’s difficult to read, it’s not standing out and there isn’t actually the weekly bathing water test data showing that there should be so you can see what the history is.”

The electronic sign that is supposed to indicate digital water quality updates at the beach did not appear to be working when we filmed at the beach for three hours.

North Tyneside Council said its signage “meets legal requirements” and said the electronic sign works, but is solar powered so only comes on at 9am.

Other bathers at Cullercoats said they had friends who fell ill after swimming in the sea there. 

One woman explained: “A couple of friends of ours, after we’d had a few dips got unwell with sickness and diarrhoea. That was around the first week in July, but then it was somebody else told us about an app. Check the app, but it’s always flagged red here on that app.”

There is no evidence to prove that the 152 people who reported to Surfers Against Sewage of being ill following swimming in the sea or the Cullercoats bathers who became I’ll, was down to the water quality.

Northumbrian Water told ITV News its “investigations have found no evidence” its assets have caused poor water quality at Cullercoats and that it is “most likely contaminated ground water”. The company said it was working with the council and Environment Agency to improve the quality. 

It said all of its CSOs will have real-time monitors “by the end of the year” and it is investing £80m on the wastewater network by 2025. 

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