Mind the Poo
So here's the rub: Imagine it's the weekend and you go for a game of football at your local park with a few mates. Other people are spread around the park playing in similar games with varying skill and intensity. A usual Saturday or Sunday morning, the vibe is good whatever the weather.
Now imagine that every time it rained, the whole park, including the football pitch you normally play on, got covered with a mix of rainwater and raw sewage. How long would the water company responsible be allowed to pollute a public space in this way? And how big the fines for allowing it to happen even once ?
And yet every time it rains fairly heavily, this is what is happening at some surf breaks. After heavy or prolonged rain, raw sewage is discharged into the river at Gwithian, immediately finding its way into the sea and spreading along the near shore surf zone - the surfer's football pitch if you will - where hundreds of surfers, swimmers and other water users are enjoying a weekend at the (water) park.
How and why is this allowed to happen? The culprits are South West Water in this instance, but there are others around the country, more knowledge on this subject is available if you click here.
The problem stems from a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) where excess rainwater runoff, for instance during heavy rain, is channeled into a pipe carrying sewage. When this pipe gets beyond its capacity, there must be relief valve to stop manhole covers blowing off. In this case, the relief valve empties rain water and sewage directly onto a playground, leaving polluted near shore water for a few days and endangering the health of anyone going in the sea or river.
You can get a free text message alert to let you know if this is happening at your chosen surf pitch from Surfers Against Sewage and simply avoid that beach for a few days afterwards to avoid any health risks.
Apart from the many times I've been having a good surf until the stench of faeces has forced a retreat being at the very least highly irritating, if not incapacitating due to the ensuing sickness and diarrhea, I have recently got into open water swimming where your face is underwater for a lot more time than when surfing. The incidence of sewage related illness in the apparently burgeoning sport of 'Wild' Swimming is as yet uncharted.
I'll keep you poosted.
Now imagine that every time it rained, the whole park, including the football pitch you normally play on, got covered with a mix of rainwater and raw sewage. How long would the water company responsible be allowed to pollute a public space in this way? And how big the fines for allowing it to happen even once ?
And yet every time it rains fairly heavily, this is what is happening at some surf breaks. After heavy or prolonged rain, raw sewage is discharged into the river at Gwithian, immediately finding its way into the sea and spreading along the near shore surf zone - the surfer's football pitch if you will - where hundreds of surfers, swimmers and other water users are enjoying a weekend at the (water) park.
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| Surfing may be a green sport, but is the water only E Coli friendly ? |
How and why is this allowed to happen? The culprits are South West Water in this instance, but there are others around the country, more knowledge on this subject is available if you click here.
The problem stems from a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) where excess rainwater runoff, for instance during heavy rain, is channeled into a pipe carrying sewage. When this pipe gets beyond its capacity, there must be relief valve to stop manhole covers blowing off. In this case, the relief valve empties rain water and sewage directly onto a playground, leaving polluted near shore water for a few days and endangering the health of anyone going in the sea or river.
You can get a free text message alert to let you know if this is happening at your chosen surf pitch from Surfers Against Sewage and simply avoid that beach for a few days afterwards to avoid any health risks.
Apart from the many times I've been having a good surf until the stench of faeces has forced a retreat being at the very least highly irritating, if not incapacitating due to the ensuing sickness and diarrhea, I have recently got into open water swimming where your face is underwater for a lot more time than when surfing. The incidence of sewage related illness in the apparently burgeoning sport of 'Wild' Swimming is as yet uncharted.
I'll keep you poosted.
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