South West Water are not doing very well, as reported over the weekend: More than 37,000 sewage spills hit the South West in 2022 – BBC News and New data shows 290,271 hours of sewage discharges into South West waters
And yet the data seems to show that things are getting better along the Sid Valley:
Raw sewage discharges into the mouth of the River Sid fell in 2022, new data from the Environment Agency has shown. Untreated sewage was discharged from a storm overflow there for 994 hours in 2020 and 1090 hours in 2021. The new data has shown a drop to 631 hours in 2022, which is still the equivalent of over 26 days and nights non-stop. Raw sewage discharges down in Sidmouth, new data shows | Local News | News | Sidmouth Nub News
One Sidmouth resident and careful watcher of the waters would note that this report seems to be conflating the discharges into the sea and the mouth of the Sid – and that the discharge data is at variance with those obtained.
Others would also disagree with the data presented: (20) Paul Ryder (@TheWitterings) / Twitter
With this example: Paul Ryder on Twitter: “SWW’s official WaterFit Live map has 148 beaches around Devon and Cornwall, 93 of them have sewer outfalls. 31st March 2023, 43 of the 93 beaches with outfalls are registering sewage spills. @RichardFoordLD @simonjamesjupp @sidmouthherald @SidmouthNubNews @SouthWestWater” / Twitter(
And this one too:
Another Sidmouth water watcher provides yet more clear information: Stefan Drew on Twitter: “@SouthWestWater again we’ve had normal amounts of rain so why have we had sewage dumping warnings for 6/7 days https://t.co/BqRqE1sTeE” / Twitter
To finish, SWW are now providing such clear information on their WaterFit map – with this example from 31st March:
https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/environment/waterfit/waterfitlive/
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