SURFERS Against Sewage (SAS) have strongly condemned South West Water after it was reported the company discharged sewage more than 1,000 times into waterways across the West Country in just three days.
The environmental campaign group, based out of St Agnes, has accused the utility provider of reckless pollution, highlighting the devastating impact on local rivers, seas, and communities.
The shocking scale of the discharges has reignited calls for stricter regulations and urgent action to prevent further contamination of the region’s natural waters. SAS has urged both the government and regulators to hold South West Water accountable for what they describe as an unacceptable environmental crisis.
As of Friday morning, a total of 35 bathing waters are under sewage alerts, warning bathers, swimmers and surfers users of poor water quality.
Beaches include popular tourist spots such as Charlestown, Fistral, Millendreath, Seaton, and Trevaunance Cove in St Agnes, putting water users enjoying the coastline this February half term at risk.
SAS data indicates that South West Water is responsible for dumping sewage 16,538 times since the start of 2025.
The data has been recorded on Surfers Against Sewage’s new Data HQ tool. The online hub is the only platform providing live and historic data for England, Wales and Scotland, where anyone can see exactly when and where water companies are discharging sewage into lakes, rivers and seas via an interactive map.
Data HQ also includes SAS’ Safer Seas and Rivers Service, which provides sewage alerts to keep water users safe.
Since January 1, SAS has exposed that water companies have discharged sewage over 72,000 times across the UK – and nearly 100 water users have logged sickness reports after swimming, surfing or paddling this year.
Annie McKelvey, senior water quality data officer at Surfers Against Sewage, said: “Humpback whales might be gracing the Cornish coastline, but South West Water is putting on its own spectacular sewage display, with 1,000 discharges flowing into our waterways in just three days.
“For over a decade, Surfers Against Sewage has tracked beach warnings. But now, thanks to new open data from water companies, we can monitor every single sewer overflow in real-time – something water companies could have done, but chose not to.
“We’re the only organisation logging this history, ensuring the transparency that the industry avoids, and highlighting the sheer scale of discharges across the country. Official annual spill data from the Environment Agency won’t land until April 2026. Should we wait over a year to know what’s happening today? Absolutely not.
“We are sick of having to swim and surf in dirty water. At the very least the public deserves to be able to see exactly when and where sewage is spilling into our rivers, lakes and coastlines.”
In response, a spokesperson for South West Water, said: “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 priority as part of our record £3.2-billion investment.”
South West Water were also keen to highlight that during the month of January, Devon saw 33 per cent more rainfall than its monthly average, while Cornwall as a whole saw 30 per cent above the long-term average.
They also stressed that storm overflows – which are a combination of surface water and sewage – are pressure relief valves built into our network that are an essential way to stop homes and businesses from flooding during periods of heavy rainfall and reducing their use is a priority for the company.