Watch the horrifying moment a Cornish beach turned completely brown - after raw sewage was pumped into the sea

South West Water admit they allow sewage to be pumped into the sea in a “controlled release”.
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The beautiful scenery of a popular Cornish beach has been ruined as visitors and locals noticed it was turning completely brown. The stain was caused by  raw sewage being pumped into the sea.

Trevaunance Cove, which is located in St Agnes, is renowned for its crystal clear water and stunning sandy beaches. However, this all changed on Sunday (October 30) when effluent was deliberately dumped off the coast.

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Regulars of the Cornish cove, such as surfers and nearby residents, noticed that at least 80-percent of the nearby water was completely dark. It was not because of shade from sunshine, but due to contamination from a sewage release.

Footage of the incident was shared online by a local surfer and was posted by surfing magazine Carve, who said: “Unbelievable, a dad just got out of this arvo and said to his three-year-old ‘Best wash the sewage off you’. It is still stinking, there is no way I am surfing in that!”.

In a statement issued by South West Water, they admitted that they do allow sewage to be pumped into the sea at a “controlled release”. They have explained that they had to do this due to heavy rainfall, otherwise the sewage would have backed up into people’s homes.

Water companies are banned from dumping raw and untreated sewage into our seas and rivers completely. The one exception being the excuse of heavy rain.

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This latest in a series of discharges, comes amid growing concern regarding the amount of sewage authorities are allowing to be dumped off UK beaches. According to reports, the amount of sewage pumped has increased by a staggering 2,553 percent.

Last weekend alone, raw sewage was pumped onto a total of eight Cornish beaches. This includes: Gwithian Towers, Widemouth Bay, Godrevy Towans, Mawgan Porth, Trevaunance Cove, Fistral South, Fistral North and Crantock.

A South West Water spokesperson issued the following statement: “This year the South West has seen the dramatic changes in weather patterns presented by climate change, as demonstrated in August when the region was declared in drought. Through these changes we are now experiencing more extreme weather patterns than ever before and this year the South West saw one of the driest and hottest years on record.

It continues: “As well as prolonged periods of extremely hot weather, we have seen heavy localised rainfall which hasn’t been able to permeate into the dry ground, meaning significant volumes run into our network, which can cause our storm overflows to trigger. Following heavy, localised rainfall this morning (October 30), a permitted storm overflow triggered at Trevaunance Cove in St Agnes, Cornwall. Storm overflows are designed to release excess storm water into rivers and seas when a prolonged rainfall occurs to prevent the risk of sewage backing up and flooding homes and public spaces by allowing a controlled release. We continue to increase investment in the region’s infrastructure as part of our continued commitment to protecting and enhancing the natural environment.’