Argyll and Bute had 30,000 hours of waste water spills

WASTE water spills lasting more than 30,000 hours were recorded in Argyll and Bute last year, according to new figures.

In all, the area put more than 1.6 million cubic metres of overflow into Scotland’s waterways - one of the highest figures in Scotland.

But the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who obtained the statistics from Scottish Water, warned they could be an underestimate.

Overflows happen when heavy rainfall overwhelms the sewage system and waste water has to be released for drains to cope.

Argyll and Bute saw a total of 3,768 overflows of waste water in 2023, compared to 3,082 in 2022 up 22.3 per cent.

The total duration of the these spills was 30,073 hours, 35 minutes and 41 seconds.

And the total volume of that overflow was 1,629,807 cubic metres, the fifth highest in the country.

Torrential rain last October in particular flooded much of Helensburgh and Lomond with sewers unable to cope.

Campaigners said residents needed to help where they could by not flushing non-disposable items down toilets and drains. That contributes to blockages and ultimately spills.

Angela Anderson, of Plastic Free Helensburgh, said: “In Helensburgh the majority of waste water is screened to 6mm as it is pumped along the pipes on the seafront to the treatment works at Ardmore.

“In extreme weather conditions the system can be overwhelmed and there is passive overflow to the Clyde to prevent backflow of sewage to our streets and houses.

“With heavy rainfall there is a high ratio of surface water discharge to sewage and this is deemed acceptable.

“Breakdowns are mercifully infrequent but they are most likely to be caused or exacerbated by blockages.

“A total of 109 blockages were cleared from street stanks last year and the 3-metre split in the main sewer pipe at the start of the John Muir Way was stuffed with wipes.

“At our beach cleans we find lots of sewage related debris, wipes, sanitary, shaving and dental hygiene products, cages for toilet fresheners and all manner of other stuff.

“We also find small items from building and DIY work such as the tops cut off silicone tubes, tile spacers, Rawlplugs and up and down the Clyde thousands of pieces of cellophane from sweets, crisp packets and other comestibles.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said: “Rural areas like Argyll and Bute can be more exposed to the elements and have suffered from a lack of investment by the SNP Government in infrastructure.

“This increases the chance of sewage overflowing into rivers and waterways, especially where the network isn’t up to scratch.

“I want to see the Scottish Government backing my party’s plans for a Clean Water Act that would upgrade our Victorian sewage network and protect local communities.”

Professor Simon Parsons, director of environment, planning and assurance at Scottish Water, said: “More than half of the overflows we report are at settled storm sewer overflows [SSSOs] where there has been treatment of the flows, such as primary settlement and screening.

“We recognise releasing waste water, even occasionally, into Scotland’s rivers and seas is a concern to people and we are playing our part in fully informing the public, as well as improving infrastructure.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Overflows from sewers are waste water which has been highly diluted by rainwater, and which normally consists of less than 1 per cent toilet waste.

“SEPA assesses 87 per cent of water bodies in Scotland as having ‘high’ or ‘good’ water quality, up from 82 per cent six years ago. But we are not complacent, and continue to work closely with SEPA and Scottish Water to monitor and improve water quality.”

Nathan Critchlow-Watton, head of water and planning at SEPA, said: “SEPA regulates discharges to the water environment and assesses sewer network licences, with particular focus on unsatisfactory compliance, as these can discharge sewage litter and impact on people’s enjoyment of the environment.

“Climate change is leading to an increased frequency of high-intensity rainfall events, affecting the number of overflow events.”