Sewage spill: 'Thousands of litres' of raw waste spews from Norfolk manhole - 'disaster' ongoing for '20 years'

A manhole has spewed “thousands of litres” of raw sewage including “toilet paper and human faeces” into a chalk stream in Norfolk, a river campaigner has revealed. Mark Dye, from Gaywood River Revival, an independent organisation working to protect the Gaywood River, said the spills happen “every time we get any decent amount of rainfall” and the continued pollution is a “disaster”.

Gaywood River Revival says the river is a “forgotten chalk stream” in Norfolk and every one of its members has "a personal connection with the river and the motivation to do something about the state that it has been allowed to get into." On Monday (January 8) Mr Dye posted a video onto the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, showing sewage and “foul water” pouring into the chalk stream on the Corner of Watery Lane and Candlestick Lane in Grimston. He said it is “heartbreaking” but local water firm Anglian Water “just don’t care”.

In another video posted on Tuesday (January 9), Mr Dye shows the “sewage fountain” again which has been “going for days” despite there being “no rainfall for quite some time”. Pieces of toilet paper can be seen floating in the murky water and Mr Dye said Anglian Water have just “let this rip and flown out”.

Mr Dye told NationalWorld locals have confirmed that this problem “has been ongoing at this spot for 20 years” and Anglian Water has “placed the blame at the feet of its customers and trotting out excuses”. Mr Dye said: “The reality is that Anglian Water doesn't have a plan and won't commit to the infrastructure upgrades needed to solve these issues. In fact, these aren't even planned until 2050 and even then it's a 'maybe'.”

Yesterday (January 10) network managers from the local Anglian Water team attended the site. Mr Dye said it was the “first time” they have visited and they “confirmed that at present nothing is being done to prevent this ongoing spill into the chalk stream and at other points in the villages as they have priorities elsewhere.” 

He added: “Meanwhile, Anglian Water just stands by and lets sewage pour into the streets from manhole covers like this across Norfolk. These aren't permitted or monitored releases from sewage treatment works and this means millions of litres of untreated sewage pollution goes under the radar." 

In a separate video posted today (January 11) on X Mr Dye said: “Think how many of these must be happening via manhole covers?”

An Anglian Water spokesperson said it is "working very closely with the Environment Agency to monitor the issue" and its "teams are checking the site regularly". The spokesperson added: “The ongoing issues at Grimston pumping station are caused by surface and groundwater infiltration into our sewer network following the recent wet weather. We're having to temporarily pause our use of tankers so they can support another issue in our region, where there’s a significant risk to the environment. They’ll head back to Grimston as soon as they can.

“Flooding and drainage issues are complicated and looked after by lots of different agencies. Using tankers is a short-term solution for a complicated problem. We’re already working with the local council, the Environment Agency and Lead Flood Authority to come up with a further plan of work and decide jointly how best to stop these problems happening in the future.”

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We are aware that members of the local community are concerned about the health of the Gaywood River. We regularly monitor the water quality and the state of the local flora and fauna. We visited the site on Monday the 8th of January and Tuesday the 9th of January and found no visible discolouration nor impact to the river during this visit. We took samples during these visits and are awaiting the results.”