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08 Sept 2025
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08 Sept 2025
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Following the recent heavy rain, pollution alerts were issued at beaches across Torbay and along Devon's coastline, as South West Water discharged raw sewage into the water.
South West Water have issued alerts at Babbacombe, Meadfoot, Beacon Cove, Torre Abbey, Preston Sands, Paignton Beach, St Mary's Bay and Goodrington. Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage and South West Water themselves advise against all bathing until the sewage has cleared.
Warnings were also put in place across many other beaches across Devon and beyond. All four areas of the River Dart that are monitored are also affected by sewage pollution as well as Shaldon, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Holcombe and Exmouth.
The Environment Agency, who test water quality rather than sewage discharge, have found Shaldon, Goodrington and Dawlish unsafe to bathe in.
The pollution was a result of recent heavy rain, overwhelming the system and triggering South West Water to discharge raw sewage into the sea to prevent it from backing up in the pipes and spilling back into the homes and businesses that created it.
In this case, the sewage spills are legal and regulated.
While the use of these sewage overflows is common and usually permitted by the Environment Agency, there has been widespread criticism around the frequency and necessity of their use. South West Water was the second worst for their use of sewage overflows in 2022, pumping raw sewage into the South West’s waterways for over 290,000 hours.
A SWW spokesperson has previously said: "WaterFit is our plan to protect rivers and seas together. WaterFit will dramatically reduce our use of storm overflows, maintain our region’s excellent bathing water quality standards all year round and reduce and then remove our impact on river water quality by 2030.
"Working with partners and customers WaterFit will begin to deliver the change we all want to see."
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