Swim to protest about sewage within the sea known as off – due to sewage within the sea
The Santas Against Sewage dip was due to take place at Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth, Cornwall, but was cancelled after South West Water issued an alert over storm discharge
A protest swim about our grubby poo-ridden seas was called off – because of raw sewage floating nearby.
Activists planned the Santas Against Sewage dip at Gyllyngvase Beach, Falmouth, Cornwall to raise awareness of water quality. But South West Water (SWW) issued an alert over storm discharge forcing organisers to pull the plug.
The slop contains rainwater mixed with human waste, oil, bacteria and heavy metals. Jess Morris, of event organisers Surfers Against Sewage, said: “I’m absolutely livid, I really am. This is the third year we’ve done this event and the second time we’ve had to cancel it because of South West Water.”
Falmouth University student Jasmine Boniface, 20, was due to swim but instead joined protesters on the beach. She said: “We were planning to get in the sea.
“We wanted to stand up for the fact that lots of people use the water. We need to show how we feel about the pumping of loads and loads of sewage into it and making it unsafe.
“The fact we find out we can’t even get in the water for the protest is so ironic.”
Her pal Verity Jones added: “It really just proves the point of why we’re here. It’s awful and it’s shocking but at the same time no one is really shocked because that’s why we’re here.”
In a statement SWW said: “We are serious about reducing the use of storm overflows but change of this scale takes time, ambition and increased investment.”
The company started installing a new storm water storage tank beneath the Gyllyngvase Beach car park in October. It should increase the sewers’ capacity and “significantly reduce” the use of storm overflows.
But Ms Morris said the works were “good” but she said “it’s not happening fast enough”. She added: “We need bigger infrastructure and huge changes and we need it now.”
Water watchdog Ofwat proposed a £24m enforcement package for SWW in July after it failed to meet sewer misuse legal obligations.
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