Local MP acts on reports of Sewage discharges at Seaford
Seaford MP, Maria Caulfield was recently contacted by constituents concerned to see sewage being discharged at Seaford on days where there was no rainfall.
Our sewage system is a dual rainfall and sewage system that has been in place since Victorian times and when rainfall is high, to prevent sewage backing up into peoples homes, the discharge outlets prevent this by releasing discharges into the sea. While it may seem that we are seeing more sewage discharges from storm overflows, the reality is that up until a few years ago these overflows were not monitored but were constantly discharging and it is only since 2010 when this Government introduced mandatory monitoring and we have moved from 7% of overflows being monitored to over 96% now with 100% being monitored by the end of the year.
On the recent reports of sewage discharges at Seaford during days with little or no rainfall. Maria Caulfield MP reported this to Southern Water who found a faulty sewer which has now been fixed in recent days.
On getting a positive response to the complaints Maria said
“There are also specific challenges relating to monitoring the outfall at Seaford Head West and Southern Water are planning an improvement programme for the site which will begin this autumn.
Monitoring storm overflow outflows is crucial in helping collect accurate data. Given in 2010 only 7% were being monitored we are now in a position locally where almost 99% of outfalls currently have electronic monitors installed, and Southern Water are aiming for 100% coverage by the end of March next year.”
Work on decoupling the sewage system from rainfall run off will start shortly which will end the use of sewage discharges once and for all.