'Sewage' pouring into sea in Cornwall caught on video at beach where people swam in poo

There are 23 Cornish beaches remaining subject of sewage warnings today (August 3) after 25 were hit yesterday

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South West Water has acknowledged "there is more to do" after a series of pictures and videos showing what is being reported as sewage being discharged at a Cornish beach. Earlier this week CornwallLive reported how a family swam in poo at Harlyn Bay because the warning signs were too small for them to notice.

Yesterday (Wednesday, August 2) further videos emerged showing storm overflow gushing out and into the ocean. While filming the footage, one man says: "Back of Harlyn Sands, Padstow. Raw sewage, absolutely stinks. They've been down here the last four days testing it and trying to unblock it."

In the video discoloured water can clearly be seen at the point of discharge into the sea. Two pictures have also been shared appearing to show toilet waste in the area.

Read Next: Family had no idea they were swimming in poo at Cornish beach because sewage warning signs 'too small'

One beachgoer said on Wednesday: "I spent three hours on the phone trying to establish who triggers the lifeguards to put up the legal pollution signs.

"Yesterday and today sewage warnings online but no information at the actual beach itself. No signs in place. When asking the lifeguards about water quality I was told no calls had been made about it.

"Surely the question is … to swim in poo or not to swim in poo…. ? However if intelligent people don’t know about said poo in the sea, then how can they make an informed decision? Heavy rain tonight ….. will be worse."

South West Water has indicated that the outfall at Harlyn discharges final effluent from the treatment works which has undergone treatment and this is the majority of the flows. There may also be some intermittent storm overflow discharge.

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As of this morning (Thursday, August 3), according to Surfers Against Sewage storm sewage discharge warnings remain in place at 23 Cornish beaches including popular spots such as Widemouth Bay, Fistral, Gwithian, Porthcurno, Gylly and Readymoney Cove among others. There were sewage warnings at 25 Cornish beaches yesterday - see them and the full story here. You can see a live interactive map of Surfers Against Sewage's latest sewage warnings here. According to South West Water's Waterfit interactive map there are only overflow warnings in place for Harlyn Bay, Pentewan and Portmellon.

South West Water has since replied to CornwallLive with a statement saying that storm overflows are permitted following heavy rain and that they stop homes from flooding. The company did however say that it hopes to reduce the use of the overflows.Combined sewage overflows in the drainage network combine surface run-off with household sewage and can become overwhelmed during and after periods of heavy or extended rain. Companies including South West Water are then allowed to let them pour into the sea, including the raw sewage, to prevent it backing up into homes.

A South West Water spokesperson said yesterday: "There has been permitted storm overflow activity at some locations in Cornwall today following heavy, localised rainfall. Storm overflows are pressure relief valves built into our network that are an essential way to stop homes and businesses from flooding during periods of heavy rainfall.

“Reducing the use of storm overflows is a priority. We know there is more to do, and that is why we are investing record levels to dramatically reduce the use of storm overflows and reduce our impact on rivers by one-third by 2025. “In Harlyn Bay, we are investing up to £800,000 to March 2025 to reduce the risk of environmental impact from our sewerage network and improve bathing water quality.”

Back in April South West Water was given a £2.1million fine for pollution and dumping sewage in Cornwall.