Sewage safaris to clean up rivers
Concern over discharges into Forth River Basin prompts a new mapping campaign involving local communities, reports
IT may sound like a reason for demanding a refund after an unsatisfactory trip to see wildlife in Africa.
But conservationists are planning sewage safaris following deepening concerns about pollution in the Forth River Basin.
Concerns have already been raised over raw sewage discharges into the River Almond, with more than 500 incidents recorded in 2019, leading to calls for an action plan from Scottish Water to clean up the river.
Forth Rivers Trust is now raising £5,000 to help communities identify and monitor sewage outflows along the River Almond and others in the Forth basin to try to stamp out the problem.
The aim is to create safaris mapping sewage outflows so communities can use the information to campaign for cleaner, healthier rivers in their area.
More than 1,000 people have now signed a petition to halt the release of raw sewage into the River Almond.
The Outfall Safaris are to be supported by crowdfunding as part of a Clean Rivers, Healthy Rivers campaign for the Forth catchment which includes 13 rivers and is home to roughly 25 per cent of Scotland’s population, together with a wide range of wildlife.
The trust hopes to raise £5,000 for the project, saying the initiative will train communities to understand different types of outfalls, what to look for, and how to record them.
It also plans to set up an online reporting tool to help communities report sewage incidents.
Information collected by the safaris will then be used to identify the key areas most at risk.
The information will be used to lobby agencies such as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and Scottish Water for cleanups but also better protection for the environment.
The area covered runs from Dunbar and Fife Ness in the east to Balquhidder in the west, to Kinross in the north and the Pentlands in the south. Alison Baker, director of Forth Rivers Trust, said: “Sewage has
become an increasing problem in the Forth Basin as old systems are not renewed but are still expected to take the waste from an everincreasing population around the Central Belt.
“Sewage can smother habitat for aquatic wildlife but also cause issues for the communities that live next to rivers which have sewage in them.
“If this crowdfunder is successful we will be able to identify where the hot spots are for sewage – it will mean volunteers and communities can monitor these areas and report sewage spills quicker.”
Concerns over the Almond come as the Forth Rivers Trust makes a “bathing waters” application to Sepa for a 400-metre stretch of the river in Almondell and Calderwood
Country Park. But the stretch is upstream of Livingston and subject to sewage discharges from water
treatment plants. According to recent Freedom of Information requests for four of the seven wastewater treatment works in West Lothian operated by Veolia from 2019, there were 501 discharges across the four sites into the River Almond, amounting to 572,577 cubic litres.
The worst-performing site was the Whitburn sewage treatment works, which overspilled 177 times during 2019.
It alone discharged 334,976 cubic litres of untreated sewage.
One of the community groups in the Forth Basin keen to get involved in this project is the River Almond
Action Group.
Its chairman Lee Haywood said:
“As a grass-roots organisation run by volunteers and concerned residents who share a special connection with the River Almond, we are campaigning to stop these unacceptable recurrent
sewage discharges into the river. The Outfall Safari is a great initiative to gather evidence of where, when, and how often sewage is being discharged into our rivers.”
A Scottish Water spokeswoman said: “Our waste water network and treatment works are operated under strict regulatory policy and regulated licences.
“Scottish Water strives to protect the environment while providing an essential service to our many customers.
“All discharges into water courses must comply with quality standards set in these licences.”
She added: “Combined sewer overflows are an integral part of most of the sewer network in Scotland (and indeed across the UK) ensuring sewers do not back up and flood homes and streets during heavy rainfall.”
Old systems are not renewed but are still expected to take the waste from an everincreasing population around the Central Belt