It makes 2023 the worst year for the release of untreated sewage into UK waters, with Swalecliffe, West Hythe and Hawkhurst having some of the worst rates in the county.
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00:00 Sewage spills on a record scale.
00:03 New data from the Environment Agency
00:05 has revealed that 2023 was the worst year
00:08 for sewage off Kent's coast and rivers,
00:11 with hundreds of instances of waste
00:14 being released along the River Medway.
00:16 Montney Hill has one of the highest rates
00:19 of sewage being discharged in the entirety of Medway,
00:22 and it has risen since 2022.
00:25 244 hours of sewage was spilled out into the waters
00:30 here that year, but it's risen now to 327 in 2023.
00:35 Southern waters say that the data is a result
00:40 of the last year and a half being the rainiest on record,
00:44 which has meant more sewage has had to be released
00:46 after heavy storms.
00:48 But campaigners say this isn't the case,
00:51 and sewage is posing a real risk
00:53 to people living in Raynham.
00:55 - You can't predict the weather,
00:56 no one can predict the weather,
00:57 but you can anticipate that something's gonna happen.
01:00 The water companies had a chance,
01:01 they knew this was coming,
01:02 they knew these spillages were coming,
01:04 but they haven't done anything that I can see to stop it.
01:07 So you can blame it on the weather if you want,
01:09 but at the end of the day,
01:10 they're responsible for these spillages.
01:11 - Would you let your children swim in the river behind you?
01:15 - I would have concerns now.
01:16 Well, I would have been fine before,
01:18 but now what I've seen, it does worry me.
01:21 - The coast in Westmoreland
01:22 has seen the highest rates of sewage discharge.
01:25 With Swellcliff clocking in,
01:27 nearly 1,000 hours of waste being released.
01:31 - It's having a huge impact.
01:32 People choose to live here in Whitstable by the sea
01:35 to have that incredible health and wellbeing benefit
01:38 that you can get from living by water.
01:41 Some people here make their living from it,
01:42 some people just use it for pleasure,
01:45 swimming, paddle boarding, jet skiing,
01:49 whatever it might be.
01:49 And so far, even this year,
01:51 I know the statistics are for last year,
01:52 but from the data we've seen so far this year,
01:55 only two in every three days have actually been usable
01:59 with the water so far this year.
02:01 - Southern Water have launched three schemes
02:03 to reduce spills in Whitstable, Deagle and Margate,
02:06 and have drawn up plans to spend 1.5 million
02:09 to tackle spills by 2035.
02:12 The company says that slashing the number of storm releases
02:15 is a top priority,
02:17 and that they're relining sewers to keep sewage in
02:20 and rainwater out.
02:22 But with more than 4 million hours of sewage
02:24 being released across the country,
02:26 it's clear Kent's coasts aren't the only ones
02:29 facing significant challenges due to climate change.
02:33 Oliver Leeds of the Satchel reporting for KMTV.