The government has brought in new unlimited fines and the tightest ever monitoring of discharges into our rivers and sea front. As our MP, it will be my mission job to relentlessly push the water companies to clean up their mess - no excuses.
Since becoming MP I have been keeping up to date with Southern Water and the Environment Agency to get a better grip on the challenges Bexhill faces with its water quality. As the Environment Agency independently monitor, and provide the alerts, on water quality, they are a reliable source when understanding these challenges.
The EA are clear that only around 10% of the Pollution Risk Forecast alerts they issue are likely to be caused by sewage discharges from combined sewage overflows. I think it is important that we understand this so that we have realistic expectations about how quickly we will see an improvement.
Approximately 90% of the forecasts are likely to be caused by:
- Urban diffuse pollution draining directly into the Egerton Park Stream, or entering through the surface water sewer system, is likely to be the main source of pollution. The stream has been extensively monitored and often contaminated.
- Southern Water investigations have shown some wrong connections (private foul sewers plumbed into the surface water drains) as well as leaking foul sewers very close to surface water sewers. This is likely to be the main source of pollution to the stream. There have been many successes in locating wrong connections, but there is still much to do.
- Road and roof run-off, especially ‘first flush’ (heavy rain after a dry period) can be contaminated with bird and dog faeces, and other general waste from urban surfaces, and so likely to be an additional source.
This demonstrates the complexity of improving bathing water quality in Bexhill. It will take time. But with strong cross-agency work identifying the exact causes, I’m hopeful we will start to see positive changes.
To stay up to date on information about CSO releases, you can use Southern Water's new ‘Rivers and Seas Watch’ map. It provides details on genuine releases and alerts when a release is found to be non-genuine.
For anyone unaware, a non-genuine release occurs when an earlier warning is updated after investigations show the release didn’t actually happen. This can be due to several factors including wildlife interference, sensor malfunctions, human error, or power issues.
My current focus now is on securing a meaningful local target for a reduction in overflows so that our community can hold them to account on making progress as part of their overall plans up to 2030. This is an issue I will continue to work on and will try my best to keep everyone informed of the efforts I am making on your behalf to address this problem.
Kieran visiting an outflow monitoring point with Cllr Ian Hollidge
