When it comes to the River Sid entering the sea, there are several things to observe.
There is the coming and going of the shingle bar at the mouth of the river:
Outlet of the River Sid onto the shingle beach of Sidmouth in Devon Stock Photo – Alamy
There is the alarming collapse of Pennington Point over the years – in that the nearest part of the cliff protects the mouth of the River and thereby Eastern Town. The question has been how to do this:
Beach Management Plan: Saving Pennington Point – Vision Group for Sidmouth
There are the alarming reports in the media of sewage entering the sea from the river – with an excellent piece from Ed Dolphin from April giving much-needed clarity to the issue:
Sewage spill around Sidmouth’s beach: what’s it all about? – The Sid
The point is that there are two Combined Sewage Outflows [CSOs]:
Two sewer overflows are located at Sidmouth, one discharges through a long sea outfall some 600m out to sea while the other discharges into the River Sid, just under 400m to the east.
How clean are Sidmouth’s bathing waters? – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Also in April, the town council announced that SWW will be investing to meet coastal bathing water standards:
“The plan envisages upgrades to the Ham sewage pumping stations and improvements to the Fortescue and Manstone Lane CSOs. The performance of South West Water has been closely monitored by the Town Council and other groups over recent years as concerns grew about the lack of investment in the infrastructure.”
Sidmouth sewage discharge reduction work could start early | Sidmouth Herald
At the same time, the VGS representative on the Beach Management Plan advisory group photographed the beach where the River enters the sea – showing where a very old pipe, now disused, would have discharged into the waters:
With more photos here:
The mouth of the Sid – The Sid
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