Sewage spills into the River Waveney at Bungay and Beccles fall

Anglian Water figures show less sewage was pumped into the Waveney in both Beccles and Bungay in 2021.

But Toby Hammond from the Waveney Green Party, who helped organise a ‘Procession Against Poo’ protest last May, said more should be done to keep the river clean. 

Mr Hammond said: “Some credit is due to Anglian Water for making minor improvements to the sewer overflows at Bungay.

"However, there is still a fundamental problem with a chronic lack of investment that allows unspeakable discharges to continue into the river day in and day out."

Water companies such as Anglian Water pump waste into rivers and the sea during heavy rainfall to stop drains from backing up and flooding homes with sewage.

Data from the water authority, reported on the Rivers Trust website, show the Earsham Street sewer overflow (CSO) in Bungay spilled 38 times for a total of 305 hours into the river in 2021.

In the same year, Bungay's Nethergate Street CSO spilled over 17 times for 10 hours and St John's Road SSO spilled three times for two hours. Also in Bungay in 2021, Boyscott Lane spilled 31 times for 309 hours into the River Waveney.

But fresh figures show that the situation in the town had improved in 2022.

Last year, the Earsham Street sewer had the most spills into the river - the sewer overflow spilled 23 times for a total of 124 hours.

The Nethergate Street CSO spilled 12 times for a total of six hours in 2022; St Johns Road SSO spilled twice for a total of 30 minutes; Boyscott Lane spilled eight times for36.5 hours; and Ditchingham Dam spilled 19 times for 113.5 hours.

A map showing the sewage leakage points in Bungay from 2022 (Image: The Rivers Trust)

In 2021 the sewage spills at Ditchingham Dam were not monitored.

The overflows into the Waveney water network at Beccles are not as intense nor as frequent as in Bungay.

The town prides itself on being a key network for access to the Norfolk Broads.

In that town in 2022, the Common Lane sewer storm overflow spilled 22 times for a total of 36.30 hours, discharging into a tributary of the River Waveney.

Bungay's Ingate sewer storm overflow spilled 12 times for a total of 6.50 hours.

And the Caxton Sports Centre sewer overflow spilled eight times for a total of 7.25 hours.

A map showing the sewage leakage spots in Beccles, 2022 (Image: The Rivers Trust)

But crucially, these figures were down on Beccles's 2021 discharges into the river.

For that year, figures show the Caxton Sports Centre sewer spilled sewage into the river on five occasions for a total of four hours into the Waveney; the Common Lane sewer spilled 18 times for 29 hours; with the Ingate sewer was not monitored.

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Green politician Caroline Lucas visits River Waveney, with Toby Hammond (Image: Alex Hammond)Mr Hammond added: "We’ve found dangerously high levels of E. Coli going straight into the River Waveney at Bungay. 

“Privatised water companies continue to pocket huge profits whilst greatly harming our rivers.

"Greens are calling for all shareholder payouts to be frozen nationally until water companies clean up their act”.

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Beccles Quay is a pivotal area for connecting the town with the Broads network (Image: Valerie Bond)

An Anglian Water spokesman said: "We fully support the aspirations of our customers that our rivers should be beautiful places, rich in nature.

"As part of our recently launched Get River Positive commitment we’ve set out a clear plan and demonstrable action.

"Central to the pledges is to ensure that storm overflows are not the reason for unhealthy rivers in our region by 2030.

"We want people to know we are listening - as part of Get River Positive we’re committed to playing our part in making that happen by ensuring our operations are not the reason for poor river health."

For more information, visit theriverstrust.org/key-issues/sewage-in-rivers

Adam Bedwell and Sam Riseborough swan in the River Waveney every day in March 2023 to raise money for Bungay Primary to have school trips (Image: Denise Bradley)