Five sites in England recorded more than 300 sewage spill incidents in 2023.
These are the places in England and Wales that recorded the most sewage spills into nearby streams and rivers last year.
Across 2023, there were 3.6 million hours of spills around the two countries – the equivalent of almost 411 years, if they came one after the other.
That figure, revealed in a report released today by the Environment Agency, is more than double the 1.75 million hours recorded in 2022.
Water UK, the sewerage industry body, described the results in the report as ‘unacceptable’ and said it has a ‘plan to sort this out’ which requires regulatory approval from Ofwat.
Our map shows sewage spill incidents were not evenly split across the country.
Six of the top ten places for spills were operated by South West Water, the service provider for Cornwall, Devon, parts of Somerset and Dorset, and the Isles of Scilly.
They included the entire top four, which had a total of almost 1,400 recorded incidents between them.
The small village of Duloe in Cornwall, located around 15 miles west of Plymouth, was the site of the most sewage spills in the entire country last year, with the equivalent of one for every day of the year.
According to the Environment Agency, the unfortunate recipient of the spillage was the West Looe River, which runs south from Duloe before joining the east river and emptying into the English Channel at Looe.
Despite the extraordinary number of spills that took place there, though, they lasted for a relatively short period of time.
The total duration of the spills at Duroe was a little under 714 hours – compared to Lavant, near Chichester in West Sussex, where more than 6,540 hours of spills were recorded.
Among the ten sites where sewage leaked into waterways for the longest amount of time is Princetown in Devon, which is located in the centre of Dartmoor National Park.
In a statement, South West Water said: ‘The increase in the storm overflow spills this year can be accounted for by the amount of named storms and weather warnings in 2023.
‘It’s clear we need to redesign our systems, which we are already doing.’
The Environment Agency pointed out that 2023 was a particularly wet year in the UK, and rainfall is the primary reason for storm overflows to spill.
It added: ‘However, it is important to note that heavy rainfall does not affect water companies’ responsibility to manage storm overflows in line with legal requirements.’
Robbie Moore, the government’s water minister, said: ‘Today’s data shows water companies must go further and faster to tackle storm overflows and clean up our precious waterways.
‘We will be ensuring the Environment Agency closely scrutinise these findings and take enforcement action where necessary.’
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