Boxing Day dips have been a tradition on the Isle of Wight for decades. Not only do they provide a great chance to wash away the excess of Christmas Day, but are also popular community events that play an important part in fundraising for worthy local causes.
This year on Boxing Day, dippers at Hope Beach, Shanklin and Gurnard may have been swimming where there had been combined storm and sewage overflows without knowing it.
All clear?
The Isle of Wight representative for Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), Chani Kind, tells News OnTheWight that at 7.38am and 8am on Boxing Day the SAS Safer Seas and Rivers Service (SSRS) App, as well as Southern Water’s Beachbouy web service showed no discharges.
However, by 1pm an alert on both services showed 17 hours and 55 minutes of discharges at Sandown which started at 2.45pm on Christmas Day.
Chani says that Gurnard had a storm overflow and sewage discharge too, but only for ten minutes.
“Unwittingly swimming near sewage discharge”
Chani told News OnTheWight,
“People who did the Boxing Day dip at Hope Beach, even if they checked, were unwittingly swimming near where there had been a sewage discharge.”
SW: A temporary glitch affecting Christmas Day
Southern Water told News OnTheWight there was a “temporary glitch” affecting their IT systems. Chief Customer Officer, Katy Taylor told News OnTheWight,
“We are sorry that details of storm overflow events did not appear on Beachbuoy as normal due to a technical issue with our IT systems. This was flagged to users via a warning note on the online tool and to users of our feed such as Surfers Against Sewage.
“This was a temporary glitch affecting Christmas Day, and all our systems were working again properly on Boxing Day. A record of all storm overflow activity during this period is now available online.”
Call for “accurate and accessible real-time water quality information year-round”
Chani pointed out that Surfers Against Sewage ask in their End Sewage Manifesto for the truth to be revealed,
“Accurate and accessible real-time water quality information year-round. Everyone has the right to make educated decisions about how they use the water.
“However there is currently a postcode lottery on transparency. In Scotland only 4% of overflows are monitored. In England and Wales, whilst over 90% of overflows are monitored, the data is incomplete, not accessible to the public nor available in real-time.
“Without this transparency we have no route for holding polluters to account. From the Scottish highlands, to the southern coast we need to see accurate and accessible real time water quality information provided by all water companies.”
Length of spill updated
Since Boxing Day, Chani explains that the spill value has been now lowered to six hours and 15 minutes. She added,
“I don’t doubt the authenticity of this second value, it has been explained to me how this works with the flows into Sandown Treatment Works and how the valves work at different flow rates.”
Improvements are helping
Chani went on to explain to News OnTheWight that the Southern Water investment did prevent Appley Transfer Station at Ryde spilling on Boxing Day and their work at Gurnard lowered the spill to only ten minutes.
“The improvements are happening and locally I will support nature based solutions as much as I can, just there needs to be more and faster.
“It’s just unacceptable not to have the data to make a choice about entering the water and for it to be given late with so many known to be entering the water, I think is damaging.”
Accurate information vital
Whether the spill was 17 hours or six, it’s argued that for those making a decision about entering the water on the morning of Boxing Day (or any other day), there should always be reliable, accurate real-time information.
Southern Water tell News OnTheWight,
“Our teams are continuing their innovative and sustainable approach to cutting storm overflows on the Isle of Wight throughout 2024 and beyond, following November’s launch of our £1.5bn Clean Rivers and Seas Plan.”
For those who took part in the Boxing Day swim in Ventnor, according to Southern Water’s Beachbuoy service the last genuine discharge that impacted the bay took place on 9th December for two hours.
