Saltburn raw sewage

[breakthewallsdown]

Fking Tories

 

[SE4 Red]

Can anyone explain why this has got much worse over the last couple of years?

When I was a young kid you probably wouldn't go swimming when you went to the NE coast and the beaches generally weren't great (late 80s /early 90s). I also could be misremembering this and how bad it actually was. However, late 90s through the 00s beaches seemed to get much cleaner - lots of blue flag beaches and clean swimming water. I seem to remember a lot of money being spent at Saltburn to extend a sewerage pipe further out to sea, although as a whole we've had the same Victorian sewerage system throughout.

Then seemingly over last 2/3 years it seems to have went back to what I remember it being like in the early 90s. I actually got sick after taking a swim at Runswick Bay last summer. Runswick had a sign up last week warning of pollution and not to bathe.

Is it as simple as being a Brexit issue and water companies now not having certain regs to comply with?

Or has it always been this bad and I'm completely losing the plot at how clean the waters were only a few years ago?

 

[Nero]

Can anyone explain why this has got much worse over the last couple of years?

When I was a young kid you probably wouldn't go swimming when you went to the NE coast and the beaches generally weren't great (late 80s /early 90s). I also could be misremembering this and how bad it actually was. However, late 90s through the 00s beaches seemed to get much cleaner - lots of blue flag beaches and clean swimming water. I seem to remember a lot of money being spent at Saltburn to extend a sewerage pipe further out to sea, although as a whole we've had the same Victorian sewerage system throughout.

Then seemingly over last 2/3 years it seems to have went back to what I remember it being like in the early 90s. I actually got sick after taking a swim at Runswick Bay last summer. Runswick had a sign up last week warning of pollution and not to bathe.

Is it as simple as being a Brexit issue and water companies now not having certain regs to comply with?

Or has it always been this bad and I'm completely losing the plot at how clean the waters were only a few years ago?

Combination of factors. You’re not losing the plot regarding cleanliness of beaches. The North East has coastal treatment works designed and built in 2000 that made a big difference to beaches. These were required because of EU legislation.

Despite that type of investment other parts of the network are decades old and some in a poor state. A failure of a pump somewhere can result in sewage discharge. The private Water Industry got rid of thousands of jobs, so it’s possible a discharge can go on for a while until an Operator doing their rounds spots it. Treatment Works have monitoring and good alarms but some of the small sites not so.

The type of discharge discussed on this thread is covered by monitoring. An overflow or CSO discharging is required to monitor in real time. This is how Surfers Against Sewage get their data. Not all sites have coverage yet though and government has extended the deadline a few times to make it mandatory.

Another factor is definitely Brexit. Nobody says it but there is no way this situation would be like it is if Johnson’s hard Brexit never happen. Or Brexit at all of course.

I also know that some of the chemicals needed to treat sewage became very expensive due to Ukraine. I suspect the government allowed companies to discharge more due to that, but can’t be sure.

And of course, it’s the combined design of the system. Water from kitchens, showers and toilets all go into the same system as rain water. An increase in rain and the system cannot cope. An overflow is used to prevent flooding, but means that combined water goes into watercourses.

 

[homesickblues]

Can anyone explain why this has got much worse over the last couple of years?

When I was a young kid you probably wouldn't go swimming when you went to the NE coast and the beaches generally weren't great (late 80s /early 90s). I also could be misremembering this and how bad it actually was. However, late 90s through the 00s beaches seemed to get much cleaner - lots of blue flag beaches and clean swimming water. I seem to remember a lot of money being spent at Saltburn to extend a sewerage pipe further out to sea, although as a whole we've had the same Victorian sewerage system throughout.

Then seemingly over last 2/3 years it seems to have went back to what I remember it being like in the early 90s. I actually got sick after taking a swim at Runswick Bay last summer. Runswick had a sign up last week warning of pollution and not to bathe.

Is it as simple as being a Brexit issue and water companies now not having certain regs to comply with?

Or has it always been this bad and I'm completely losing the plot at how clean the waters were only a few years ago?

I dont think its got anything to do with Brixit. These drainage systems have been in the ground many years before we left the EU. The rules that the EU set to govern drainage and overflows are still applicable now and will be until the Uk government decides that they need something different. what has changed over the years is the growing population. Think of all the new houses that have been built in the north east. the expansion of the drainage system hasnt kept up with development. As said somewhere above, the best option would be to get the rainwater out of the system and just let if flow into the rivers. The EU regulations also allow for overflows to happen during rainfall.