Raw sewage spilled on to some of the favourite beaches along Scotland’s west coast.

Come on in, the water’s filthy …

By Bill Heaney

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today revealed that more than 500 sewage overspills took place at sites managed by private firms in just twelve months.

These include more than 100 at the Edinburgh Waste Water treatment work at Seafield, run by Veolia.

A Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request has revealed that there are 12 sewerage assets managed under PFI – private finance initiative – contracts.

Of these, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) were able to provide overflow data for nine, all managed by Veolia, a French utility provider. Across these nine assets, there were 518 spills in 2023, with dumping taking place for more than 3,500 hours.

Seafield is Scotland’s largest waste water treatment works processing 300 million litres of waste water every day. 165 dumping events took place at the site, with sewage spilling out for 890 hours.

Previously sewage spill data for Edinburgh has not been available as Scottish Water’s regular data publications only contains information for overflows monitored by Scotland’s government-owned water company.

Overflow data from PFI assets is submitted directly to SEPA which does not proactively publish the data to the public.

In its report into sewage dumping in Scotland, Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) called on SEPA to publish data from PFI overflows.

Commenting on the figures, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, LEFT, said:  “The more digging you do into Scotland’s smelly secret, the more unpleasant surprises you come across.

“These figures reveal that next door to Edinburgh’s most popular beach, hundreds of sewage spills have taken place.

“There are various reasons why these sewage releases can happen. Scotland’s sewage infrastructure is facing more and more pressure from housebuilding, dramatic weather events and the ravages of time which can lead to sewage being discharged from the system into rivers, beaches and waterways.

“In areas like the Highlands, Scottish Water have taken private sewage works back in house. Veolia need to urgently shape up or a similar change may be needed.

“Likewise, with this information not routinely being made public by SEPA, communities across Scotland will be worried that they do not have the full picture around sewage dumping near them.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats have published plans for a Clean Water Act that would see a new blue flag system for Scotland’s rivers, as well as vital updates to our sewage network and a clamp down on discharges. Scottish ministers need to stop their excuses and get tough on sewage dumping.”

Meanwhile, The results of the Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request can be found here.

SEPA warned: “We only hold data for overflows which are required by the terms of their licence to report data to SEPA. Not all overflows are monitored and required to do this. Not all overflows are required to report spill frequency, volume and duration.”

Updated figures published on the Scottish Water website on 26th June, showed that there were 25,109 sewage dumps in Scotland in 2023, more than double the number of dumps recorded in 2020. However, this figure is likely to be a significant underestimate due to the limited monitoring carried out.

On PFI sewage assets the ESS report said: “SEPA should publish this information [PFI sewage data] in a comparable format and with consistent definitions to the Scottish Water data to allow a more comprehensive picture to be presented.” (Page 18, ESS Report)

A spokesperson for Veolia said: “We operate the Seafield Waste Water Treatment works in line with the SEPA licence conditions and everything that leaves the plant has been treated.

“Even during significant rainfall, the works are designed and operated to ensure all wastewater goes through our screening, grit removal and settlement processes before being discharged.

“We work with the local community, SEPA and Scottish Water to provide an effective service for residents and the environment and support continuous improvement works. We have a doors open policy where members of the public, councillors, MPs and MSPs can visit the site.”

In a background briefing, the Veolia spokesperson said: “At the Seafield Wastewater Treatment Plant, there is only one exit point of the plant with two outfalls. This is where final effluent (fully treated wastewater) leaves the facility. In times of significant rainfall, contents from the settled storm overflow or settled primary overflow tanks would also be discharged from this point. These discharges are licensed and only take place under significant rainfall events in full accordance with the site’s licence.

“All discharges are treated to some extent and no raw sewage is discharged from the plant. These should not be classed as “dumping events”. Storm discharges are continuously monitored, and the data shared with Scottish Water and SEPA.

“Veolia did operate a wastewater contract in the Highlands with Scottish Water and at the end of its contract period it transitioned back to Scottish Water as originally agreed after 25 years of successful service. This was not due to any inference of poor performance.

“Veolia is required under the licence at Seafield to report data to SEPA and this has always been done in compliance with the licence. As Veolia is a private company working with Scottish Water, our operations are sampled every day, which is more frequent than regulated water companies. This is an additional level of scrutiny and gives greater assurances that we are compliant with our SEPA licence.

“Veolia invites all local MSPs to visit its wastewater treatment plants within their constituencies. Alex Cole-Hamilton visited the East Calder works (in Summer 2023) with the Chairman of SEPA.”

West Dunbartonshire has its own sewage works on the Clyde shore at Havoc below Westcliff in Dumbarton, where there are regular discharges after heavy rain, which happens frequently. The pictures in this article give a very clear indication of the state of the shore near the Scottish Rocks at Ardoch.

The filthy shore where the children are playing was at Ganavan, near Oban; the sewage treatment plant is at Shieldhall; the shore at the East Esplanade in Helensburgh has been described as “mascerated” and the party of litter pickers picture was taken at Levengrove shore near Dumbarton Castle.

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.

Few people want to admit it, but wild swimming can be a hazardous leisure pursuit even in Loch Lomond, where the water is far from pristine clear or clean.