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00:00 South East Cornwall is a region known for its natural beauty, but recent figures from the Rivers Trust have revealed that in 2022 there were 3,596 discharges from sewer overflow systems into rivers and seas within the constituency.
00:16 One area which has stood out is the Town Quay pumping station in Foy. Data has revealed that this pumping station had one of the highest number of discharges in the region, with a 29% increase since 2021.
00:31 We now speak to Dr Lawrence Coldrick from the West Country Rivers Trust to find out how sewage affects the water around us.
00:39 So the impact sewage has on our rivers is a couple of different elements. The first and major one is it adds phosphate into our rivers. Phosphate is a limiting nutrient for most plants and animals.
00:52 Therefore the first thing that responds is things like algae and that can choke a system, especially when it's hot and dry. We see these big algal blooms and then when they die off it means it takes a lot of the oxygen out of the water.
01:06 So that means all the animals, the invertebrates, the fish that need the oxygen in the water will die off. So it causes that real problem between the chemical getting into the river and the damage it does to the animals.
01:19 We now speak to a number of local residents who have expressed their concerns about sewage pollution in the area.
01:26 Well I'm very concerned about it. I think the health of our rivers are really important. I've outlined a number of people who use it. There's also the concerns about wildlife.
01:40 What is it doing to the fish that use the river? What about animals higher up the food chain like otters and seals? So I do think it's a concern.
01:53 It's just not very nice knowing what you're swimming in sometimes. It does put a lot of people off.
02:03 There's lots of people that feel very passionately about it in Cornwall and in Cowstock. We'd love to shout about it a bit more but we don't know if anybody is actually going to listen.
02:16 South West Water are pretty aware of what they're doing wrong and it needs to be a quick response rather than a slow one.
02:23 I feel hopeful in one way because I do feel that of all the environmental concerns and problems we have, which are many many many, we're more likely to get a resolution on this.
02:38 A satisfactory resolution because I do feel that the general public is totally behind all of the campaigns against water pollution.
02:48 We demand to have an end of sewage pollution by 2030. We realise this is a big ask. It's something that will take a long time.
02:57 But we really need to get going with the degree of seriousness that has been lacking so far by the water companies and by politicians.
03:08 So really we want to speed up the process. We are aware this can't be switched off tomorrow but we really seriously need to get on with it now and have an end of sewage pollution by 2030.
03:19 Water pollution in the area can be caused by a number of different things, such as an increase in tourism and agricultural runoff.
03:27 Bruce Newport from the Environment Agency now explains.
03:30 If we go down to South East Cornwall in places like Loo we have a booming summer population of people on a great location and a great bathing water.
03:39 But again that can be pressured by what actually happens in the catchment with sites and agriculture which flow down the river.
03:46 Also that natural river cycle of coming in and going out with the tide can have a real impact on our bathing water and the quality in Loo itself.
03:55 The West Country Rivers Trust has been working with water companies to find new ways to help alleviate the issue.
04:02 So we're already seeing a level of investment and interest requirement for the water companies over the next five, six years or so.
04:11 That's welcome. I think we have to do that in a way that also builds resilience in our catchments.
04:18 So it's not just about building big engineered structures to hold sewage to manage the storm overflows.
04:25 It's around putting in nature-based solutions to stop some of that stormwater getting in the first place.
04:31 And so these are some of the things that we're really pushing for and calling for over the next five years.
04:36 Southwest Water were not able to participate in this video but have sent the following statement.
04:41 "Reducing the use of storm overflows is a priority and we are investing significantly in this area but we know there is more to do.
04:49 We have committed to eliminate storm overflows at bathing waters by 2030 ahead of the government target.
04:55 We've now installed monitoring on 100% of our storm overflows helping us to target investment where it is most needed."