Southend-on-Sea: 'Utterly disgusting' brown-coloured water spotted at popular Essex beach; Anglian Water denies sewage claim

The shocking photos were captured by Mark Hutley on Sunday (8 September) who described it as “disgraceful”. He added: “I’ve never seen anything like it. It could be seen for miles.”

YourSouthend posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the incident confirming that the brown-coloured water was spotted “between Chalkwell beach and Westcliff beach”, adding that it “appeared to be sewage flowing freely into water”.

YourSouthend said on X: “The apparent sewage spill is close to one of Anglian Water’s ‘storm overflow’ pipes. The overflow pipe named ‘Southend -Western Valley’ discharges into the Thames Estuary. Latest records indicate that it was active today, Sunday 8 September.

“The controlled spills are allowed in order to prevent flooding in homes and businesses.” Users reacted to the post on X in disgust. One person wrote: “Utterly disgusting. @AnglianWater have always used the licensed conditions excuse which is for exceptional circumstances. The investment has been promised for years but nothing changes.”

Another user wrote: “All our water companies are owned by foreign investors, they don't give a f*** and they maximise profits and minimise investment in infrastructure. Imagine selling off your countries water for greed and a quick payoff”.

The official account for the Environment Agency covering East Anglia on X responded to the post saying: “Our officers have investigated and found no evidence of sewage discharges or debris in the area. The discolouration is likely a result of surface water runoff following heavy rainfall.” A user responded to their tweet claiming Environment Agency officers “clearly aren’t doing their job right.” The user added: “We will not be fooled. Stop treating us like we are idiots”.

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: "We are working with the Environment Agency and local authorities to investigate a discharge in Southend. We are confident that this was the result of a surface water outflow being triggered in response to the heavy rain and the discolouration is a result of stirred up silt and mud.

“As this was a modern surface water pipe and not a combined system, this would not contain any sewage. Overflows of all kinds are designed to prevent homes and businesses from flooding, and we'd expect to see discharges in wet weather like we saw in Southend yesterday (Sunday 8th September). We have spoken to the EA and the local council who confirm there is no evidence of any sewage."