More than 68,000 sewage spills across Britain so far this year, say campaigners

More than 68,000 raw sewage spills have polluted British rivers and seas already this year, data suggests.

Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) have launched an online water quality hub, mapping real-time data on sewage overflow discharges for England, Scotland and Wales, as well as historical data for spills in England.

So far in 2025, more than 68,000 spills have been logged across the three countries since the beginning of the year, the data drawn from the water sector suggests – equivalent to 2,000 a day.

But the campaigners warn the figures could be much higher as not all overflow information was available for Wales and Scotland.

Overflows

In Scotland, 187 spills have been recorded, but Scottish Water only monitors 1,000 of approximately 3,600 overflows, the charity said.

Figures from Surfers Against Sewage also suggested that 95 people had reported getting sick from being in sewage-polluted water around the UK since the beginning of the year.

Giles Bristow, SAS’s chief executive, said the charity was “exposing the appalling frequency of sewage spills” to aid the fight against pollution.

The move comes amid widespread anger over the polluted and degraded state of Britain’s rivers and seas, as well as rising bills, high dividends, and executive pay and bonuses at the UK’s privatised water firms.

The Data HQ tool the charity has produced shows the real-time and historical information on spills, allows people to explore water-quality testing data carried out by communities across the UK and view statistics on sickness cases which have been logged by water users.

The Data HQ hub incorporates SAS’s safer seas and rivers service (SSRS) which provides sewage alerts to keep water users safe from illness.

Add data

The online tool also allows users to explore and add data on how the British public are using rivers, lakes and seas, to help the campaign for year-round monitoring of the country’s waters to ensure people can swim, surf and paddle safely, the charity said.

Mr Bristow said: “We are on a mission to make the stories, stats and shocking truth behind the sewage scandal in the UK more visible and accessible to all, and thanks to Data HQ, we can.

“This tool is going to be instrumental in our fight against sewage pollution by exposing the extent of discharges across the UK both in real time and historically”, warning there would be no “hiding” or waiting a year for water companies to release their figures.

He added: “As well as live data from Scotland, Wales and England, our sewage map now includes a full history for every recorded overflow in England since December 2024, and we are working towards obtaining more and more of this vital data from water companies in the devolved nations.

“We believe every spill should be logged in real time, and by making this data accessible, we’re exposing the appalling frequency of sewage spills and the impact on human health caused by our failing water industry,” he said.

Spills information for England comes from Water UK’s data platform reflecting what is being reported by English water companies, although the charity warned some issues such as overly sensitive monitors may mean it would not always be 100% accurate.

The data for Wales comes from a feed provided directly by Welsh Water, while SAS said data from Scottish Water was live on its own map, and while they had requested a feed from the utility, they had been able to source the necessary data independently to include in the Data HQ hub map.

There was currently no data available in Northern Ireland, the campaign group said.