Sep
7
2009

SAS on Panorama, tonight, “Britian’s Dirty Beaches”

Tonight at 8.30 on BBC 1 watch Panorama’s “Britian’s Dirty Beaches”, or Sky Plus/iplayer if you’re out.  We have been working with the Panorama team all summer and I repeatedly captured some shocking footage of sewer overflows discharging raw sewage into our rivers and bathing waters that make the base for this alarming programme.

Cheers
Andy Cummins
Campaigns Manager

Check out SAS TV to see films on all of our campaign topics, including footage from recent actions.

» Comments: 2

BBC Panorama on 7th September 2009 raised some interesting points about the cleanliness of our beaches, but it didn't give the full picture. A lot more information, which was provided to the BBC by the Environment Agency, was not included in the programme.
A film has been produced by the Environment Agency to provide important information about bathing water. 97 per cent of beaches in England and Wales meet minimum European Bathing Water Standards; and improvements to the Environment Agency's monitoring and testing regimes are aiming to further improve the quality of our beaches.
You can view the film at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvAkO2Bm7jQ.
Avatar for Environment AgencyEnvironment Agency
Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:17

Full picture or not, people need to be informed when raw sewage is spewing onto the beach and into the stream where kids are playing. The least the EA could do is provide signs informing beach users of the possible dangers. Lifeguards and surf schools should be told when discharges are likely or have been recent.
SW water have made many improvements, for which they are happy to charge the most in the country for rates, but after 10 years of privatisation and the predicted increase in rainfall, much more needs to be done - year round!
Avatar for dirtywaterbatherdirtywaterbather
Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:00

Comments closed.