A suspected six-hour discharge from the Albion Groyne sewer outfall this morning came just two days after a plaque was put up on it in protest at dumping raw sewage in the sea.
Extinction Rebellion campaigners unveiled the satirical blue plaque on the groyne at midday on Saturday to highlight what they say is the government’s continued failure to tighten environmental regulations and stop profit-grabbing by water companies.
Two more suspected discharges at the same location happened just hours beforehand. All three are currently under review by Southern Water’s engineers to see if they were genuine.
The plaque said: “The UK government voted to block a law requiring water companies to dump less raw sewage in our waters and seas – 20 October 21.”
The unveiling was attended by Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas and Hove MP Peter Kyle.
In a statement, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, MP for Brighton Kemptown, said: “Insufficient action has been taken to tighten regulation to stop water companies using discharges as a day-to-day measure when they were introduced for only the most extreme circumstances.”
In 2021, Southern Water received a £90 million fine after pleading guilty to illegal sewage discharges that polluted rivers and coastlines in the south of England.
Adam Chinery from Brighton Watersports said: “We are on the sea every day, see dolphins and seals on a regular basis, and it upsets us to see what Southern Water are doing to their home.
“Financially it has also hit us with people cancelling bookings as they are concerned about the water quality. We saw a 70% drop in trade over the August bank holiday that was a direct result of surface water overflow release.”
A Southern Water spokesperson said: “Increased rainfall can put extra pressure on our sewer network when large volumes of surface water enter the system.
“To protect homes, schools and businesses from flooding, storm overflows provide a release valve to allow excess flows to enter the environment. These discharges contain up to 95 per cent rainwater.
“However, we know that this is not an acceptable system moving forwards, and as part of £2bn of investment in our network between 2020 and 2025, we are working hard to reduce our reliance of storm overflows.
“We are doing this through a combination of innovative engineering and nature-based solutions, supported by close partnership working and an emphasis on slowing the flow of rainfall into our sewers.
“Our recently published annual bathing water update details how we are working to create healthier rivers and seas.”
