ISLE of Wight swimmers and surfers may want to think twice before heading into the water.
The Rivers Trust's interactive map shows a worrying number of sewage discharges and overflows in and around the Island last year.
The map, which you can view here, shows where the sewage network discharges treated effluent and overflows of untreated effluent and storm water into rivers in England.
It shows how many times the outflows were used, and for how long.
In 2020, sewer storm overflows and emergency overflows near Sandown, St Helens, Wootton, Newport, Cowes, Yarmouth, Brighstone and Calbourne all exceeded 100 hours.
Some were used for more than 400 hours.
The Rivers Trust, which works to protect waterways, says we should not entering the water immediately downstream of discharges and avoid overflows.
The 2020 data is marked by brown circles and has been shared on social media not long after a meeting between the Island's MP and Councillors and utility firm Southern Water; and after a controversial vote in parliament on an amendment proposing an end to sewage discharges into the sea.
Read more:
- Improvement pledge as Southern Water meets MP and councillors
- Critics round on MP Bob Seely over sewage vote
Southern Water has come under fire after making a series of sewage dumps into the sea in recent days, including some after last week's bad storm, affecting many of the Island's beaches.
In the last week, MP Bob Seely has also been criticised for not voting to amend the Environment Bill — which currently allows raw sewage to be discharged into rivers and seas.
Mr Seely said the vote was only the first and he hoped "a successful compromise will see a duty on water companies to end sewage overflow built into management plans. That is the goal."
Earlier this year, Southern Water was named among the worst performing companies for environmental performance and was fined a record £90 million for 6,971 sewage discharges into the rivers and off the coasts of Hampshire (into the Solent), Kent and Sussex, between 2010 and 2015.
Read more:
- Two star Southern Water among worst for environmental performance says report
- Southern Water fined record £90 million for environmental damage
In August, a majority stake was bought by Macquarie, which inisisted it plans to invest in improvements.
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