80% of beaches in Cornwall issue raw sewage alerts following heavy rain

54 beaches across Cornwall have issued sewage alerts, including near tourist hotspots like Falmouth and Penzance

Polzeath Beach, which is one of 54 beaches in Cornwall to issue sewage alerts. (Getty Images)

Eighty per cent of beaches in Cornwall have been given raw sewage alerts after heavy rain in the South-west, according to the pressure group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).

SAS monitors water quality across 68 beaches in Cornwall, in the South-west of England. Of those beaches, 33 have received a “sewage pollution alert” and 21 others have received a “pollution risk forecast or incident alert”.

According to the group, a “pollution risk forecast” means there is potential sewage in the area, while a pollution alert means “storm sewage has been discharged from a sewer overflow in this location within the past 48 hours”.

During times of heavy rain, water runoff sees human and animal waste, fertilizers, pesticides and other unwanted liquids flood into waterways like rivers.

Contaminated river water will eventually reach the sea, where it normally rests on the surface, and makes it dangerous to enter the water.

Fistral Beach, near Newquay, is among the 54 monitored beaches to issue a sewage warning (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Swallowing water contaminated with fecal matter could lead to a number of illnesses, including vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, or an inflamed stomach and intestines.

Beaches on both the north and south side of Cornwall have been affected by the most recent alerts, including in hotspots like Falmouth, Penzance and Looe.

The risk of contamination is set to remain high in the coming days, with the Met Office currently forecasting more rain and stormy weather for both Scotland and England.

The current sewage pollution in Cornwall is far from a unique event. According to SAS, in 2021, sewage discharged into rivers and seas 370,000 times for a total of 2.7 million hours.

SAS describes the UK sewage system as “woefully inadequate”, with water companies regularly utilising a network of 18,000 licensed sewer overflows to regularly discharge raw sewage into rivers and the ocean.

On the SAS website, the group says that companies have been under-investing in their sewage amanagement systems, even as they have paid out £60 billion in dividends to shareholders over the last 30 years.

The group adds that “the sheer volume of pollution entering our water means the UK consistently ranks as one of the worst European countries for coastal water quality.”

Last year, Labour MP Jim MacMahon called the sewage leaks a “scandal.”

The shadow environment secretary said that under a Labour government, the party would impose “mandatory monitors on all sewage outlets” as well as “automatic fines for every single sewage discharge”.