By Bill Heaney
Remember when you used to be able to go round the Shore for a paddle without getting up to your knees in scat?
Or you had the nerve to dive off the sewage pipe which snaked out into the River Clyde at Havoc?
Well, it wouldn’t be a great idea to do that nowadays. Not if you didn’t want to catch a serious e coli infection.
I know none of you would like to think that West Dunbartonshire was one of ten Scottish local authority areas where there are only one or two overflow points where sewage dumping is being monitored.
However, public services being what they are in this part of the world, the water rate paying public won’t take much convincing on that one.
The charges are added to you council tax bill, but the council won’t say anything about that or even if they are lobbying the Water Board to up their game.
Today, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has called on the SNP and Greens to get tough with Scottish Water as it was revealed that in three local authorities there is no monitoring of sewage dumping at all and in ten more local authorities just one or two sites are monitored.
Across Scotland there were 21,660 sewage dumps in 2023, however in some there is no data on how much sewage is being dumped as no sewage outflows in these local authorities are monitored.
In West Dunbartonshire, there are only one or two overflow points where sewage dumping is being monitored, yet there is plenty of it about, even in Loch Lomond which is a favourite spot for wild swimming. And fishing.
Previously, Scottish Liberal Democrats had uncovered data on the number of public complaints about sewage dumping, which revealed there were 262 complaints about sewage being dumped between 2022 and 2023.
Scottish Liberal Democrats have announced plans for a Clean Water Act which 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.
Mr Cole-Hamilton, pictured right, said: “Across Scotland we know there were more than 21,000 sewage spills last year but that is likely to be a significant underestimate because only a tiny proportion of the network is monitored. People are being kept in the dark about the true scale of the problem.
“I was shocked when I found out that no monitoring was taking place in local authorities across Scotland.
“Local people and campaign groups have seen it happening and the filthy consequences. They deserve to know how often sewage is being pumped into our rivers and waterways.
“To make matters worse, while our waterways are destroyed, customers are facing huge price rises from the government-owned water company and its executives are pocketing bumper bonuses.
“SNP and Green ministers must stop being spin doctors for these outdated sewage standards and get tough with the government-owned water company.
“To turn the tide on this scandal, Scottish Liberal Democrats have published plans for a Clean Water Act that would see vital updates to our sewage network and a clamp down on discharges.”
ENDS