Devon beaches shut to swimmers due to sewage pollution 

Beaches in Devon have once again been hit with a sewage pollution warning. 

Four beaches are shut to swimmers in Devon due to pollution from sewage. 

On Monday 2 September the Environment Agency issued warnings against swimming at the following beaches: 

  • Dawlish Town

  • Exmouth 

  • Budleigh Salterton 

  • Seaton 

East Devon District Council said: “Following the issuing of Pollution Incident Reporting Tool (PIRT) by the Environment Agency in the early hours of Monday, the lifeguards will shortly be raising red flags on Exmouth beach. No swimming signs will also be put up.”

On Saturday 31 August East Devon District Council said the Environment Agency has issued a warning and a red flag has been put up to warn residents to stay out of the water. 

Four beaches have 'no swim' warnings in place. Credit: Environment Agency

South West Water (SWW) said on Friday 30 August there was a small spill from the temporary tank feeding the overland pipeline at the site they're working on in Exmouth.

The next day, they said: "Although the spill was very small, we’re sorry this happened and that it sadly resulted in precautionary advice being given against bathing on Exmouth Beach."

Helen Dobby, SWW's head of environmental performance, was onsite in Exmouth on Monday.

She said: "We are carrying out repairs to the burst rising main which we know has been affecting the community.

"We are working 24 hours a day to make sure the repair is fixed quickly and is resilient for the future."

She apologised to customers for the disruption that's been caused.

On Monday 2 September, SWW said: “We have had spills from our storm overflows over the weekend as a result of heavy rainfall. Storm overflows are pressure relief valves built into our network that stop homes and businesses from flooding during periods of heavy rain.

"We are serious about tackling storm overflows and change of this scale takes time, ambition, and increased investment – we are working hard to actively reduce our use of storm overflows across the region as part of record level investment.”

South West Water said: “The sudden and heavy rainfall in Exmouth overnight caused our storm overflow from Maer Road pumping station to operate to protect homes and businesses from flooding.

“We are fully investigating what happened, but we are sorry that a pollution incident occurred. One pollution is one too many and we are doing everything we can to protect the environment as we work around the clock to complete a very complex work in Exmouth.”

Warnings were put out three times in August, with it previously shut following a burst pipe and a major sewage spill.

Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage has an interactive map which shows the water quality of popular beaches and swimming spots. 

For Dawlish, Budleigh Salterton, and Sidmouth, it said: “Storm sewage has been discharged from a sewer overflow in this location within the past 48 hours and bathing is not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.

As for Exmouth, it said: “Risk of reduced water quality due to sewage.”