One in four sea swimmers in the UK put off by sewage this summer

EMBARGO: 00:01 MONDAY 31st JULY

• Poll reveals around 3.7 million people won’t swim in the sea because of sewage dumping

• Sewage discharges mean a staggering 61% of beach goers say they are less likely to visit the British seaside this summer 

• Lib Dems warn coastal communities are at “serious risk” as tourists turn away 

Almost one in four (23%) sea swimmers in the UK say they will stay out of British waters this summer because of sewage dumping, a staggering new poll from the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The survey by Savanta found that around one third (31%) of UK adults say they regularly go swimming in the sea in the UK during the summer months. Of these, 23% said they won’t do so this summer because of the dumping of raw sewage by water companies, while another 45% said they were less likely to do so.

This equates to around 3.7 million people saying they won’t swim in the sea this summer because of sewage dumping.

It comes after recent analysis of Environment Agency data by the party revealed 1,504 sewage dumps on Blue Flag beaches in 2022. 

The poll also shows that a shocking two in five regular beach goers (43%) say they are less likely to visit the British seaside this summer as a result of sewage discharges. One in five regular beach goers (19%) said they would not visit a UK beach at all because of sewage dumping.

The party has warned that if sewage dumping continues, it could lead to tourists turning away from British beach holidays with coastal communities left to “suffer.”

Last week, the first week of the school summer holidays, the Safer Seas and Rivers real-time water quality alerts service showed numerous sewage discharges on coastlines across the country. 

The Liberal Democrats are calling for water companies to be banned from dumping raw sewage onto Blue Flag beaches and for them to be reformed into public benefit companies. 

Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said: 

“Sewage dumping by water companies is ruining the British beach holiday. 

“Coastal communities are at the mercy of water companies who unapologetically discharge raw sewage into popular swimming spots.

“If this continues, tourists will turn away from British beach holidays, leaving small businesses and local tourism to suffer from their mess. 

“No one should have to go for a swim or build a sandcastle next to raw sewage. This Conservative government needs to stop letting water companies off the hook and finally ban these disgusting sewage discharges and defend our tourism sector. We cannot allow our shores to be plagued by sewage for another summer.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

Methodology: Savanta interviewed 2,272 UK adults aged 18+ online between 21st  and 23rd July 2023. Data were weighted to be representative of the UK by age, sex, region, and social grade.

Full results from Savanta poll available here.

In the poll, 7% of respondents said they swim in the sea often or sometimes but won't do so at all this summer because of discharge of untreated sewage. According to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics, there are 53.2 million adults in the UK, so 7% equates to 3.7 million people.