Campaigners Criticise Changes To Southern Water Sewage Monitoring Site

Changes to the Beachbuoy webpage have been criticised by campaigners.

The tool is part of Southern Water’s website and alerts users when there has been a combined storm overflow (or CSO) release to a bathing area.

The company says changes to the site will provide a ‘transparent view’ of sewage releases.

Sewage infrastructure currently can not separate rainwater from untreated sewage and this means that it can be released into the sea and other watercourses during times of heavy rainfall – something Southern Water says is essential to prevent flooding.

But the quantity and duration of CSOs in Sussex in recent weeks sparked anger among residents who are calling for a solution.

Southern Water has now made changes to its alert tool which means that where alerts previously showed as red crosses, they could now show as blue blobs depending on the circumstances.

The Changes Are Already In Place. This 'Blue' Mark For Camber Would Previously Have Been Red Under The Old Beachbuoy System (Captured 16 September 14.20)

The company says that the approach taken previously was ‘extremely cautious’, adding that the impact of a release on bathing water can ‘vary significantly depending on the tidal conditions and duration’.

The Beachbuoy changes have sparked further anger as, instead of producing an automatic red alert every time sewage and rainwater is released, the company will determine how much of an effect a release has had.

For example, if an outfall is far out at sea, the water company could decide it has not affected bathing sites and a red warning may not be issued.

Instead, users will be able to click on the bathing site and will get a pop-up explaining when a release last took place and if it affected bathing water quality.

Explaining the changes on its website, the company said:

“In September 2022, we upgraded the map to take into account the impact a release has on a local bathing water, based on the location of the outfall, the duration of the release and tidal conditions at the time.

“For instance, if the outfall is 5km out to sea, the release was short and the tidal conditions meant there could be no impact on a bathing water, we no longer turn the bathing water icon red (the outfall icon will remain red to indicate a release).

“This information is still in the release table however, to provide a transparent view of all our releases.”

Southern Water says a number of further changes are planned in the coming weeks which will be based on customer feedback.

Not everybody is happy about the changes with Worthing councillor Sally Smith (Lab, Central) calling it ‘a disgrace’.

Worthing Climate Action Network said the changes were a ‘cover up’.

But the water company said it ‘never hides data’ and all releases will still be shown on the website – just in a different format.

In a statement the company said: 

“This is an important step for the tool, ensuring we provide accurate, fair and clear information to wild swimmers, kayakers, paddleboarders and all users of the beautiful beaches across our region.

“Beachbuoy is leading the way in providing near-real time data about storm releases, but we must ensure it goes further to inform the public about the impacts to the watercourse and not limit their enjoyment of their local bathing water."