Hundreds of litres of raw sewage has been spotted flowing into a river beside a nature reserve in Kent.
Mark Hutley, 54, was flying a helicopter over Gillingham when he saw seagulls feeding from the brown liquid leaking into the Medway estuary on Sunday.
The aviation boss today Metro.co.uk: ‘It was massive…seeing all the seagulls feeding at the end of the pipe was pretty gross, so it was a bit depressing.’
Mark asked his passenger to take photos through the window showing the deluge on the shoreline.
He said: ‘When we came over it, the water was so still you could see it clearly.
‘I’ve been flying for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.’
Sewage was released from a storm overflow at Motney Hill waste water treatment works, operated by Southern Water, next to a nature reserve.
It spilled untreated sewage into the water 82 times, for a total of nearly 328 hours, last year, according to data collated by The Rivers Trust.
That’s an average of four hours each time it overflowed.
Storm overflows are intended as a relief mechanism to prevent flooding by releasing sewage and excess water from public sewers during heavy rain.
There is growing concern for the safety of wildlife and waterways as sewage discharges have increased in recent years.
The Rivers Trust’s website says: ‘Our vital waterways are getting battered’
‘If you look at the desperate health of our rivers, you’ll see a rich tapestry in which a range of different pollutants are all part.
‘Like different coloured threads, they knit together, tightly intertwined and collaboratively creating a complicated, and depressing, picture.’
Metro has contacted Southern Water for comment.
A similar dark mass Mr Hutley spotted that day just off Southend’s Chalkwell Beach, where his children swim, has turned out not to be sewage.
Images caused outrage and alarm when they were shared on social media.
But this was not caused by sewage, according to Anglian Water, which has an outfall in that area for the drainage of surface water.
The water company said: ‘We are confident that this was the result of a surface water outflow being triggered in response to the heavy rain and the discolouration is a result of stirred up silt and mud.
‘As this was a modern surface water pipe and not a combined system, this would not contain any sewage.
‘Overflows of all kinds are designed to prevent homes and businesses from flooding, and we’d expect to see discharges in wet weather like we saw in Southend[on Sunday].
‘We have spoken to the Environment Agency and the local council who confirm there is no evidence of any sewage.’
Cllr Daniel Cowan, Leader of Southend Council, said: ‘Images like this naturally cause concern, but Anglian Water have said this was from a surface water outflow being triggered in response to the heavy rain and the discolouration is a result of stirred up silt and mud.
‘As this was a modern surface water pipe and not a combined system, this would not contain any sewage, should not affect water bathing quality and no pollution alerts have been issued in relation to this.
‘Environment Agency and council officers have also investigated and found no evidence of sewage discharges or debris in the area and confirmed the discolouration is likely a result of surface water runoff.
‘As a seaside city we pride ourselves on the quality of our beaches, our blue flags and seaside awards which are judged on water quality results carried out by the Environment Agency throughout the bathing season.
‘These consider many tests, data and readings and shows that Chalkwell has good water quality according to the strict and international criteria.’
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