There has been no let up in the wet weather and consequent sewage pollution since Storm Chandra hit South West England a week ago.
Here’s South West Water’s current map of potential coastal pollution on their WaterFit Live web site:
The multi-day pollution incident at Harlyn Bay started on January 20th. The Forder Valley Road combined sewer overflow in Plymouth activated on January 21st. A CSO in St.Agnes affecting Trevaunance Cove has been spilling sewage into the ocean since January 23rd. The Woolacombe “poo pipe” went into action on January 26th:
The number of recently active overflows shown in yellow on the WaterFit Live map has reduced slightly this morning:
The four multi-day sewage “spills” mentioned above have all clocked up another day, and Exmouth and Mawgan Porth are also highlighted on the overview map. Let’s take a look at them too:
The Maer Road CSO in Exmouth reactivated last night. The St Columb CSO has also reactivated after a brief pause, but the Trenance Porth pumping station overflow near the beach at Mawgan Porth has been overflowing since January 30th.
Heading inland next, here is the Water UK map of active combined sewer overflows across Devon and Cornwall, plus a few individual examples not too far from here. Up on Dartmoor the Princetown sewage treatment works has been overflowing into the Blackbrook River and thence the River Dart since January 23rd. Meanwhile at a lower level the Pyworthy sewage treatment works started “spilling” into Derrill Water and thence the River Tamar on January 26th. In addition the Shebbear sewage treatment works has been discharging into the River Torridge since January 28th:
Here are today’s overview maps of active combined sewer overflows. Some improvement over yesterday can be seen:
The multi-day coastal pollution incidents at Harlyn Bay, St. Agnes and Woolacombe continue, as do the inland overflows at Princetown and Pyworthy. However, there have been all too brief respites from the overflows at Forder Valley Road in Plymouth and near Shebbear into the River Torridge:
As always, South West Water’s maps only reveal the most recent sewage “spill”, and hide the fact that there has been a short hiatus in a multi-day pollution event.
[Update – February 5th]There’s been plenty more rain overnight and this morning, so the South West Water and Water UK overview maps show plenty more active sewage overflows this afternoon:
The CSO’s are currently overflowing at our local surfing beach at Widemouth Bay, and at our local sewage treatment works at Halwill discharging into the River Carey which ultimately joins the River Tamar near Launceston. The same is true of the CSO at the nearby Shebbear STW, which discharges into the River Torridge:
The South West Water and Water UK overview maps look broadly similar to yesterday:
All the assorted multi-day overflows we’ve been following are continuing today.
[Update – February 7th]Once again, it’s hard to spot a significant difference between today’s overflow maps and yesterday’s
At long last there is some reduction in the number of yellow exclamation marks on the WaterFit Live map, and purple spots on the Water UK map:
However there is a literal and metaphorical black cloud on the horizon. The Met Office has issued yet another warning for heavy rain tomorrow afternoon and evening. There are plenty of flood warnings further east, but currently the only flood alerts across Devon & Kernow are for West Cornwall rivers, the River Teign and the Middle Exe:
The multi-day overflows at Halwill STW, Widemouth Bay and St. Agnes have finished at long last:
At 10 AM this morning there was a modest improvement in the number of active sewage overflows across Devon and Cornwall:
The multi-day “spill” from the St. Merryn CSO at Harlyn has finally finished. However that fact is invisible on South West Water’s web site because there has been a short activation of the overflow more recently. On the other side of the balance sheet the Halwill STW overflow is now discharging into the River Carey once again:
At lunchtime the forecast heavy rain has arrived, with the unfortunate side effect that the surfing beaches at Fistral in Newquay and Trevaunance Cove at St. Agnes are once again suffering from sewage pollution:
Some marginal improvements can be seen in South West Water’s coastal map and Water UK’s inland map this morning
In other news the MP for South Devon, Caroline Voaden, has started a petition which “urges the government to support coastal communities affected by coastal erosion in Start Bay, including the villages of Torcross, Beesands and Hallsands, in the short and long term.”. Yesterday BBC News reported on the “coastal erosion” at Torcross as follows:
People living near a scenic coastal road that broke up and washed into the sea during stormy weather say its loss is “catastrophic”.
Parts of the A379 between Torcross and Slapton, Devon, broke apart last week after sea defences were damaged in recent storms.
The road, which has been described by local residents as “vital”, could remain shut until 2027, it emerged last week, with calls for government funding to rebuild it.
Having virtually signed Caroline’s petition I decided to take a closer look at sewage pollution along that stretch of the south coast of Devon. Here is what I discovered:
The Torcross CSO has been continuously overflowing into Start Bay since January 20th. Even more concerning is the fact that the two CSO’s in Slapton have been overflowing continuously, if intermittently, into Slapton Ley for many days. Note that according to the web site of the Field Studies Council:
Slapton Ley is the largest natural lake in south-west England. Although it is only separated from the sea by a narrow shingle bar, it is entirely freshwater. The lake is surrounded by reedbeds, marshes and woodland habitats.
It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and was declared a National Nature Reserve (NNR) in 1993. The nature reserve is open daily and there are no entrance fees.
To be continued…
