Plymouth Sound is being treated 'just like a toilet'

GREENPEACE SAYS SEWAGE DUMPED FOR 11,436 HOURS

- SARAH ELMES

PRIVATE water companies have been accused of treating the UK’s countryside ‘as a toilet’ as new figures reveal Plymouth Sound was hit with 11,436 hours of sewage in 2022.

Greenpeace’s investigative unit Unearthed has found almost 1,200 sewage overflow pipes discharged in England and Wales’ most sensitive wildlife habitats for more than 300,000 hours last year. This includes 12,981 hours by Wessex Water and 28,208 hours by South West Water (SWW).

The figures reveal Plymouth Sound and Estuary, which straddles the border between Devon and Cornwall, received a total of 11,436 hours of sewage last year.

South West Water says reducing the use of storm overflows is one of its ‘main priorities’. And a spokesperson revealed £20m of investment has been earmarked to ‘improve bathing water quality’ at Plymouth Hoe.

But Megan Corton Scott, political campaigner for Greenpeace UK, says private water companies ‘treat our countryside as a toilet’ and claimed firms are putting profit above the environment.

She said: “These are the casualty figures from a war which nature is losing, badly. Private water companies treat our countryside as a toilet, and their vandalism doesn’t stop at some of our most sensitive conservation areas. Beloved lakes, beaches and rivers, rare wildlife habitats, sites of special scientific interest are being sacrificed so water company bosses and shareholders can continue to reap huge profits.