New figures show sewage dumping higher in 2023 than previously known

Responding to new figures snuck out by the Scottish Government owned water company a week before the general election showing that there were 3,449 more sewage dumps in 2023 than previously thought, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has called for the Scottish Government to get serious about the crisis of sewage dumping.

Updated figures published on the Scottish Water website on 26th June, showed that there were 25,109 sewage dumps in Scotland in 2023, an increase from the 21,660 originally reported in March and more than double the number of dumps recorded in 2020. The duration of these sewage dumps was 242,367 hours.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have launched plans for a Clean Water Act that would see:

• Scotland’s Victorian sewage network updated;

• Every sewage dump monitored and published with binding targets for their reduction;

• A blue flag system for Scotland’s rivers;

• A complete ban on the release of sewage in protected areas such as bathing waters.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

"The scandal of sewage dumping in our rivers, lochs and beaches seems to be ever growing in Scotland. Just recently we had Portobello beach shut due to fears around E.Coli now Scottish Water tell us there were actually more sewage dumps than previously known about last year.

"Even this new figure of over 25,000 sewage dumps is likely to be a huge underestimate, as unlike England where almost every overflow point is monitored, only a small fraction are monitored in Scotland.

"SNP ministers have defended this for too long. Millions of litres of sewage are being dumped into our rivers, lochs and beaches.

"These figures also leave the environmental credentials of the Scottish Greens in tatters as this record-breaking year of sewage in 2023 dumping occurred on their watch as government ministers.

"To turn the tide on this scandal Scottish Liberal Democrats have proposed plans for a Clean Water Act for Scotland to update the sewage network, proper monitoring to find all the dumping and a complete ban on this filthy practice in protected areas such as bathing waters."