Sewage spill UK: Raw waste gushes into sea on Sussex coastline after two pumps fail - with public warned not to swim

The public has been warned not to swim on the coastline of West Sussex after raw waste has been spilled into the sea. A leak from Southern Water's local outfall pipe began on Tuesday (9 January) that resulted in waste being spilled into the sea.

The pollution is believed to affect "the whole of the Adur coastline” from Lancing to Fishersgate, including the River Adur, and potentially Worthing, Adur and Worthing Council said. The leak has now stopped but the council added that the waste is expected to remain in the coastal waters until 11am today (Thursday 11 January).

In a statement the council said: "The pollution is believed to affect the whole of the Adur district coastline, including the River Adur, and potentially Worthing. We highly recommend that visitors to our coastline do not go into the water at this time and take care on the beach."

Southern Water said two pumps had failed at its Shoreham Wastewater Treatment Works because of an electrical fault. This meant it was unable to release treated waste through its long sea outfall pipe so it instead released screened wastewater through its short sea outfall pipe which is located around 500m offshore in the Shoreham Harbour area.

Councillor Vicki Wells, Worthing’s cabinet member for the environment, said she expects the incident to be “addressed urgently” and for the wastewater infrastructure “to be robust”. She said: “Our communities and environment shouldn’t suffer as a consequence of ailing equipment. It’s unacceptable for the area’s coastline to be polluted by releases of sewage because pumps have failed.”

Southern Water said teams worked through the night to install a temporary pump which is releasing flows further out to sea. In a statement it said: "Our teams worked hard through the night to install a temporary pump, which is releasing flows further out to sea via our long sea outfall. We also have four tankers transferring flows to a nearby treatment works. 

“We are carrying out investigations on environmental impact. We are very sorry that this is happening and are doing everything we can to fix the issue and minimise impact." The Environment Agency has been informed about the leak.