Find a protest near you, join thousands of water users around the UK who will paddle out in a nationwide protest against sewage pollution on Saturday 17 May
• Protesters at 40+ UK locations are calling for total reform of the water industry in England and Wales, and clearer monitoring and transparency of the sewage crisis in Scotland and Northern Ireland
• New polling data shows that less than one in five UK adults (19%) believe they will be able to swim safely at their local spot by 2030 without risking their health due to sewage pollution.
• More than half (54%) worry they will get sick if they swim in the UK’s rivers, lakes and seas
• More than a third (37%) believe the actions of their water supplier has negatively impacted their local community
• Less than a third (32%) trust the government to ensure water suppliers will improve infrastructure and reduce sewage spills
Thousands of water users are set to paddle out at the UK’s beaches rivers and lakes on Saturday 17th May, in protest of the ongoing sewage crisis, which saw untreated sewage discharged more than once a minute, on average, across the UK last year.
Co-ordinated by environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), the protests are calling for transformational reform of the water industry, as sewage pollution remains a threat to the UK’s blue spaces and public health.
A record number of protests at over 40 UK-wide locations are set to take place, with surfers, swimmers, kayakers and bathers from Bournemouth to Belhaven Bay, Pembrokeshire to Portrush, taking to the water to take a stand against sewage pollution.
The Paddle-Out Protests are taking place as the official bathing season in England and Wales – which runs from 15 May to 30 September- begins, with the public flocking to the UK’s blue spaces to enjoy the water in the summer months. Last year, there were 8,704 sewage discharges in England during the bathing season, an average of more than 60 a day.
SAS has developed a free mobile app, the Safer Seas & Rivers Service, which provides real-time pollution alert for over 450 locations across the UK, helping protect water users from sewage pollution. The charity is encouraging everyone who is attending the Paddle Out Protests to use the app to check the water is safe for a dip.
A record number of protests at over 40 UK-wide locations are set to take place, with surfers, swimmers, kayakers and bathers from Bournemouth to Belhaven Bay, Pembrokeshire to Portrush, taking to the water to take a stand against sewage pollution.
The Paddle-Out Protests are taking place as the official bathing season in England and Wales – which runs from 15 May to 30 September- begins, with the public flocking to the UK’s blue spaces to enjoy the water in the summer months. Last year, there were 8,704 sewage discharges in England during the bathing season, an average of more than 60 a day.
SAS has developed a free mobile app, the Safer Seas & Rivers Service, which provides real-time pollution alert for over 450 locations across the UK, helping protect water users from sewage pollution. The charity is encouraging everyone who is attending the Paddle Out Protests to use the app to check the water is safe for a dip.
However, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the bathing season runs from 1 June to 15 September, water users are not able to receive pollution alerts through the app, due to inadequate monitoring from the devolved governments, an issue which SAS is campaigning to address.
Recent polling of more than 2,000 UK adults, carried out for Surfers Against Sewage, shows that over half (54%) are worried they will become sick if they swim in UK waters due to poor water quality, with only one in five (19%) believing that by 2030 they will be able to enjoy the country’s beaches, lakes and rivers without the risk of becoming unwell. Furthermore, more than a third (37%) believe the actions of their water supplier has negatively impacted their local community and less than a third (31%) trust the government to ensure water suppliers will improve infrastructure and reduce sewage spills.
Giles Bristow, CEO at Surfers Against Sewage said: “Another year, another summer of swimming and surfing in sewage while our shameless water companies laugh all the way to the bank. The public has simply had enough and will be paddling out in their thousands to send a clear message to government and the polluters: end this sewage scandal now!
“Our failing water industry has been trumpeting billions in investment to clean up their act, but we know that these fat cat bosses can’t be trusted to keep their promises. The proof is in the missed targets, shocking statistics and devastating stories of sickness we continue to see year after year. We’ve had enough of their lies, greed and incompetence and know that this nightmare will not end until the whole water system is radically reformed.
“The thousands paddling out across the UK are letting the water companies, government and Independent Water Commission know, loud and clear, that we will not accept another year of risking our health to swim in the sea.
“People should be free to use the water without fear of getting sick, and that’s why we developed the Safer Seas & Rivers Service, a free app that provides real-time pollution alerts, giving peace of mind for those worried about sewage pollution.”
The protests are taking place as the Independent Water Commission reviews its evidence before making recommendations to Government on reforming the water industry in England and Wales. Surfers Against Sewage is calling for a total reform of the privatised water sector, demanding that protecting public health and the environment should be prioritised ahead of profit.
With minimal sewage overflow monitoring in Scotland and Northern Ireland (with data reported from just 6.7% and 4.3% of each country’s entire network respectively), protesters paddling out in Scotland and Northern Ireland are calling for proper monitoring, full transparency and for government to address the scale of the issue.
Giles Bristow continued: “We have shown that people power brings about change: we campaigned hard for an Independent Water Commission, and now it must deliver what the public demands. If the government settles for the status quo, history will keep repeating itself and we will never end sewage pollution.
“We cannot keep chucking good money down the drain to service debt, dividends and dodgy bosses, whilst the deluge of sewage discharges contaminates our wild waters and the ocean. The time for tinkering around the edges of a broken system is long gone. This year’s Paddle-Out Protests will show those in power that the public are watching and will not let up until public health and the environment is prioritised over profit.”
Last month, SAS revealed that sewage was discharged over half a million times into UK waters in 2024, with English water companies failing on their Environment Agency targets to reduce sewage pollution incidents. Instead of achieving a 40% reduction, incidents increased by 30% – the highest in a decade. Sewage spilled into the UK’s sea, rivers and lakes for 4.7 million hours at the same time as shareholders of private water companies cashed in on £1.2 billion in dividends.
Among England’s water companies, United Utilities was the worst offender in 2024, spilling sewage over 77,000 times, with Severn Trent, Wessex and Thames Water discharging more sewage than the previous year.
In Wales, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water was responsible for 118,276 sewage discharges, an average of more than one sewage spill every five minutes. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the true scale of sewage pollution is unclear due to limited monitoring of combined sewage overflows (CSOs.) However, SAS estimates that sewage discharges last year could have been as high as 364,629 and 61,732 respectively.
Stuart Davies, a Surfers Against Sewage rep and organiser of the Brighton Pier Paddle-Out Protest said: “We are paddling out because we seem to be in the same place each year. We see record levels of sewage pollution in our blue spaces, especially here on the south coast. Many a time, I have been personally affected. I can’t go sea swimming. I can’t go surfing. I also volunteer for the Wave Project which provides surf therapy for young people. That’s been cancelled a few times, and we couldn’t go in the water. It makes me extremely angry. We are paddling out in protest of the scandal and to call for total reform of the water industry.”
Shelley Sim, a sea swimmer from East Lothian who was hospitalized after swimming in polluted water is joining her local Paddle-Out at Belhaven Bay. She said: “I’m joining the Paddle-Out because sewage doesn’t belong in our seas. Clean water is a right, not a luxury. It’s a place of healing and joy and sanctuary for so many people, and it shouldn’t also be a place of fear. Coming together is a way for us to make a change, and with so many of us paddling out, the decision-makers will have to take note and hear us.”
Surfers Against Sewage is calling for ambitious and radical reform of the water industry in England and Wales, which puts the environment and public health ahead of profit, ending sewage pollution for good. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the charity is calling for real-time sewage alerts and increased monitoring and transparency of sewage discharges into blue spaces.
Following the nationwide Paddle-Out Protests, SAS is urging the public to email their MP and call for their support for transformational reform of the water industry in England and Wales, and increased transparency and monitoring of water quality in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
About the Paddle-Out Protests
The largest protests are taking place in Brighton, Bournemouth, Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth, as well as Broad Haven Beach in Wales, Dunbar in Scotland and Portrush in Northern Ireland. Further info and locations map available here.
Key SAS Paddle-Out protests are taking place at the following locations and times:
Croyde Bay, Devon 10:15
Broad Haven North beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales 14:30
Boscombe Pier, Dorset 10:00
Plymouth Hoe East Beach, Devon 11:00
West Pier, Brighton 10:30
Gylly Beach, Falmouth 12:00
Dunbar, Belhaven Beach, Scotland 11:00
Porthmeor Beach, St. Ives 13:00
Poole Harbour, Dorset 10:00
Wallasey Beach, Merseyside 13:00
Broadstairs, Viking Bay 15:00
Weston Super Mare Marine Lake, 11:30
Seaford, Bonningstedt Parade 10:45
Hythe, Seabrook
Martello Bay, Clacton on Sea 14:00
Bristol Harbour 10:30
Nairn Beach, Scotland 13:00
Stonehaven Beach, Scotland 13:00?
Newton Beach, Porthcawl, Wales 10:30
Sandy Lane, Chester, River Dee 11:00
Victoria Park Boating Pond, Newbury 11:00
Sandhaven Beach, South Shields 11:00
East Beach, West Bay, Dorset 11:00
Wishtower Beach, Eastbourne 14:00
City Beach, Southend on Sea 13:00
Sideshore, Exmoor
Seaton Beach, Cornwall 13:00
Lyme Regis Beach, Dorset 12:00
Woodbridge, River Deben, 13:00
River Cam, Cambridge 10:30
Little Shore Beach, Amble 11:00
King Edward’s Bay, Tynemouth 13:00
Portrush Harbour, Northern Ireland 15:00
Appleby Beach, Ryde 11:00
South Bay, Scarborough
Hastings Beach 14:00
