Geography in the News: ‘Is it seaweed – or something more sinister?’

Beachgoers were warned to stay out of the water this summer after sewage was discharged into the sea. Locals at Falmouth Bay in Cornwall tell of their rage at the water companies – and the rising tide of filth.

It has become the norm for sea swimmers in Falmouth Bay to check their Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) app to see whether it is safe to swim, or whether they might find something grim in the water. Swimmers are angry, arguing that 90% of people make an effort to keep the local beaches and sea pristine to protect people and wildlife, yet the water companies and the government are showing minimal respect for the environment.

The issue of dumping sewage has dominated the headlines over the summer, with swimmers warned to stay out of the water after storm overflow pipes containing a mixture of sewage, rain and surface water were discharged into the sea. In fact new PM Liz Truss was responsible for cutting millions of pounds of funding earmarked for tackling water pollution during her time as environment secretary, which doesn't bode well for future environmental policy making.

SAS revealed that over the summer it received 654 combined sewer overflow (CSO) notifications from 171 different locations. The worst-hit spots were Longrock in Cornwall and Scarborough in North Yorkshire (with 19 each) - and argued that people should be able to swim between the red and yellow flags without the spectre of sewage pollution hanging over them!

Read the full article here - https://www.theguardian.com/en...