WESSEX Water has written to politicians and authorities in Bournemouth to address “misunderstandings” over storm overflows at Boscombe and other beaches in the area.

The company said it supports a planned strategy to eliminate harm from storm overflows and is already carrying out surveys of the surface water network close to Boscombe Pier following concerns raised by the Sorted Surf Shop, RNLI and local campaigners.

Andy Mears, Wessex Water’s permitting manager, said misunderstanding of the network and how storm overflows operate led to some needless beach closures last summer and continues to cause alarm among customers.

Mr Mears said: “All overflows operate under permits from the Environment Agency, which are designed so the discharges do not impact on water quality.

“They are a part of an older type of sewer system and normally only operate during periods of intense rainfall, so any foul water released from them will be very dilute because of the large amount of rainwater within the system and the environment.

“We do have overflows along the coast near Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. These are monitored and the information is used to drive the popular Surfers Against Sewage SaferSeas app.

“Only two of these overflows discharge directly onto a beach however, and both are at undesignated bathing water sites which we monitor because they remain popular with the public. The vast majority discharge via offshore outfall pipes or into rivers upstream of the coast and the bathing water.

“Working with the Environment Agency, we have identified the overflows most likely to affect bathing water quality. But little data is available on actual impact, so we run our storm overflow alert system on a precautionary basis.

“When an alert is issued, it means an overflow with the potential to affect a bathing water has discharged and beach users may wish to avoid the water. Much more information on actual impact is needed.

“In addition, there has been confusion in the Bournemouth area about the reasons for closing or red-flagging beaches. Some people have mistaken discharges from our surface water outfalls – containing only rainwater run-off from roads and roofs and no sewage whatsoever – as discharges from storm overflows.

“We’ve worked with BCP Council and the RNLI to try to clarify how storm overflows should be treated when decisions are made regarding beach closures.”

Surveys by Wessex Water’s ‘Streamclean’ team in Boscombe have identified several misconnections of wastewater to the surface water pipes, as well as evidence of used syringes that have been thrown into road gullies on Christchurch Road outside McDonald’s – all of which will be contributing to problems on the beach.

Since 2000 Wessex Water has invested £181 million on upgrading nearly 600 storm overflows across its region, with a further £150 million set aside for improvements between 2020 and 2025.

It has called on the government to legislate to prevent developers connecting surface water to combined sewers, as well as banning non-biodegradable wet wipes which are the major cause of blockages in the sewer network when wrongly flushed down toilets.

The Daily Echo will be contacting campaigners for their response.