Nine local authorities have no sewage monitoring at all

Scottish Liberal Democrats have today called on the Scottish Government to order monitoring of all sewage discharge sites as they revealed that in nine local authorities. including the capital, there is no monitoring of dumping at all.

In 2022 Scottish Water figures show there was a 30% increase in the number of sewage overflow events. In total 14,008 discharges were logged, up from 10,799 incidents in 2021.  

However there is reason to believe that this is a significant underestimate because only around 4% of the 3,614 sewage overflows in Scotland’s 31,000-mile sewer network are currently monitored. In Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray and South Ayrshire, no discharge points are monitored by Scottish Water, despite images emerging of sewage pouring into rivers.

This is in contrast to England, which has 14,470 overflows of which 91% are monitored.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and Edinburgh Western MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

“Across Scotland we know there were more than 14,000 sewage spills last year but people in are being kept in the dark about the true scale of the problem  

“I was shocked when I found out that no monitoring was taking place in Edinburgh and many other local authorities across Scotland. Local people have seen it happening and the filthy consequences. They deserve to know how often sewage is being pumped into our rivers and waterways.  

“At the moment in England almost every sewage overflow is monitored but in Scotland it's only a small fraction. The Scottish Government-owned water company should record and publish all sewage discharges so we get a true picture.  

“Scottish Liberal Democrats are campaigning for an acceleration of measures to upgrade Scotland's Victorian sewage systems and prevent almost 19,000 Olympic pools worth of sewage from flowing into our rivers and onto our beaches."