Constituencies with most sewage spills and those with no monitoring

By Lucy Ashton

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, right,  has today revealed the Scottish Parliament constituencies with the most sewage spills as well as those with no annual monitoring, as he urged the SNP to stop ignoring the problem and finally get tough on sewage dumping.

New analysis by his party reveals that a third Scottish Parliament constituencies did not have any sewage overflows with full annual monitoring data.

Of the constituencies which were monitored, Argyll and Bute had the highest number of sewage dumps, with 2,693 in 2024.

Loch Long has one of the filties beaches in the country and Helensburgh’s east esplanade shore is mascerated with stinking flotsam and jetsam.

Aberdeen South and North Kincardine saw the highest volume of sewage dumped, with 10,770,099 cubic meters of sewage dumped.

Across Scotland in 2024, sewage was dumped 24,398 times. However, the problem is likely to be far worse because, unlike in England, only a small fraction of sewage overflow points have full annual monitoring data.

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:  “Every SNP MSP should be looking at the figures for their constituency and demanding the Scottish Government takes the sewage crisis far more seriously.

“SNP ministers have become spin doctors for the government-owned water company and its outdated standards. Bosses are taking home bumper bonuses while millions of litres of sewage get dumped into our rivers, lochs and beaches.

“Sewage was dumped 24,398 times last year, yet even that figure is likely to be a huge underestimate since so few overflow points are fully monitored. A third of constituencies lack full annual monitoring data whatsoever. In England, at least there is proper monitoring that provides a more accurate sense of the scale of the problem.

“To turn the tide on this scandal, Scottish Liberal Democrats have published plans for a Clean Water Act that would bring our sewage network into the 21st century, clamp down on dumping and get to the bottom of this disgusting practice.”

You can find data for all Scottish Parliament constituencies here.

Scottish Liberal Democrats recently criticised the Scottish Government-owned water company for its failure to follow up on analysis into sewage being dumped in Holy Loch in Argyll & Bute, where planning permission for a salmon farm has been applied for.  You can read more about that story here

The 25 constituencies with no monitoring are:

Aberdeen Central

Ayr

Clydebank and Milngavie

Cowdenbeath

Dundee City East

Dundee City West

Eastwood

Edinburgh Central

Edinburgh Eastern

Edinburgh Northern and Leith

Edinburgh Pentlands

Edinburgh Southern

Edinburgh Western

Glasgow Anniesland

Glasgow Cathcart

Glasgow Kelvin

Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn

Glasgow Pollok

Glasgow Provan

Glasgow Southside

Mid Fife and Glenrothes

Midlothian North and Musselburgh

Paisley

Perthshire North

Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Caption: The north beach at Arrochar, Loch Long, is polluted with sewage and toilet and santaryware spills.