Disgusting moment raw SEWAGE is pumped directly into the water at popular seaside town
THIS is the disgusting moment raw SEWAGE was pumped directly into the water at a popular seaside town.
The footage was captured at Harlyn Bay Beach in Cornwall on Wednesday.
The video shows discoloured water from a storm overflow gushing out and into the ocean.
A man can be heard saying: “Back of Harlyn Sands, Padstow. Raw sewage, absolutely stinks.
“They’ve been down here the last four days testing it and trying to unblock it.”
Two pictures also appear to show toilet waste discharged in the area.
It comes as much of the country was battered by heavy rain in recent days.
According to Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) the weather has caused a “storm sewage” overload.
Up to 23 Cornish beaches were on “sewage pollution alert” yesterday.
“I spent three hours on the phone trying to establish who triggers the lifeguards to put up the legal pollution signs,” one beachgoer told CornwallLive on Wednesday.
“Yesterday and today sewage warnings online but no information at the actual beach itself. No signs in place. When asking the lifeguards about water quality I was told no calls had been made about it.
“Surely the question is … to swim in poo or not to swim in poo…. ? However if intelligent people don’t know about said poo in the sea, then how can they make an informed decision? Heavy rain tonight ….. will be worse.”
A South West Water spokesperson said: “Following heavy, localised rainfall, there was limited storm overflow activity in Harlyn Bay earlier this week.
“Storm overflows are pressure relief valves built into our network as an essential way to stop homes and businesses from flooding during periods of heavy rainfall.
“There has been no storm overflow activity since midday yesterday.
Reducing the use of storm overflows is a priority. We are investing record levels to dramatically reduce the use of storm overflows and protect the region’s excellent bathing water status.
“In Harlyn Bay, we are investing up to £800,000 to March 2025 to reduce the risk of environmental impact from our sewerage network and improve bathing water quality.”