Claims made that Wessex Water illegally dumped sewage

A councillor said the investigation's findings are 'shocking'. 

In the investigation which looked at data from Wessex, Thames and Southern Water, it was suggested that these companies were discharging sewage on some of the hottest and driest days of 2022.

Across the Wessex Water region from the Dorset coast to the Bristol area, the BBC report identified 68 sites where sewage may have been discharged illegally last year.

Dorset Council and Weymouth Town Councillor Jon Orrell said: “It’s shocking that they’re dropping sewage on dry days, we were led to believe that it may be a problem with storm surge, but it turns out that they are putting it out on dry days as well.

“We need water regulators to come down on them like a ton of bricks – they shouldn’t be able to get away with it.”

“It’s not on really, we are paying them to treat sewage and they are not treating it.”

Cllr Orrell explained that Weymouth beach has always been well known to be ‘safe for family bathing, it’s our selling point.’

The Wessex Water spills that started on dry days appear to have lasted for more than 1,500 hours, the investigation found.

Wessex Water has disputed the claims.

A spokesperson for Wessex Water said: “Out of the eight Wessex Water sites identified by the BBC, there were no discharges at five of the sites.

"And there are three sites that do discharge when groundwater levels are high. This groundwater enters the sewerage network largely through private pipes.

“The issue of groundwater-driven overflows has been the subject of discussion between companies, the Environment Agency and Defra for some time.”

The water company has been relining pipes but much of the infiltration is from private pipes that then connect to the public network. Wessex Water said companies have no powers to require these pipes to be fixed.

The spokesperson added: “This is a known issue caused by high groundwater which, unlike rainfall that stops relatively quickly, continues for days or even months. None of these overflows cause rivers to fail to meet ecological standards.

“We’re using nature-based solutions to treat groundwater affected sites, and by 2025 we will have completed or progressed 28 schemes in our region.

“Meanwhile we’re investing £3m a month on reducing overflows, which we agree aren’t fit for the 21st century, and we’re planning to invest significantly more between 2025 and 2030 subject to regulatory approval.”

Environmental campaigners have also called for action.

Caz Dennett, a Weymouth-based Extinction Rebellion activist, said: “They need to manage the sewage, it’s not easy but that’s their job – they manage complex sewage systems.

“They’re not holding up their end of the deal and we are glad to see that they are being called out - It’s just appalling that there are so many cases.

“I personally did not pay my Wessex Water bill because I think they are not doing what they said they were going to do.

“We have three miles of beautiful seafront and people come here to enjoy the Great British seaside which in previous years has provided pretty clean seas and now people may choose to go elsewhere and we want people to come here as it’s great for the local economy - For some people it’s the only affordable holiday that they can have.

“We have done a range of events raising awareness and this is the one topic that we get the same response from – people are angry.”

The new shadow environment secretary Steve Reed has called for an investigation into the three water companies that may have illegally dumped sewage on dry days.

Mr Reed said there should be further investigation into the three named companies to see if they breached the terms of their licence and to assess any environmental damage caused by the spills, while blaming the Conservative Government for allowing it on their watch.

The remaining six water companies in England said they couldn't provide information because they were already being investigated for potential illegal spilling by industry regulator Ofwat and the EA.