Swim warnings after second sewage spill in a week

Swimmers have been warned to avoid entering the water near their island homes after a second sewage spill in a week.

Isle of Wight Council has advised residents to avoid bathing in the Cowes and East Cowes area, after the Environment Agency reported a "pollution incident" overnight on Friday.

Southern Water apologised for the latest release, which it said was caused by an unplanned power outage at the Cowes High Street pumping station.

Councillor for East Cowes Karl Love said: "It just seems to be one failure after another with Southern Water pumping stations" after a large sewage pipe burst in the area on Tuesday morning.

"This consistent failure of Southern Water infrastructure is becoming absolutely ridiculous," he said.

He said he was frustrated that islanders were not alerted to the most recent incident until Saturday afternoon when the council put out its warning on Facebook.

"It means a lot of people who might have gone swimming or used the bathing water in and around Cowes and East Cowes could have been exposed to toxic bacteria," Love said.

He called for more immediate communication from Southern Water on similar incidents.

Love said local residents were "concerned" after the recent spills and want to see some action to address these problems.

It comes on a weekend when protests took place across the South calling for more to be done to tackle sewage pollution.

Surfers Against Sewage, who organised the events, said: "Water users on the Isle of Wight and across the nation are sick of sewage flowing into our waters whilst shareholders profit.

"The incident at Cowes is not a one off, it's a symptom of a totally broken industry that allows water companies to put profit above improving infrastructure or protecting the environment.

"Yesterday [Saturday], thousands paddled out across the country demanding an end to this scandal. The government must listen and end the current privatised industry, and put public health and the environment first."

A Southern Water spokesperson said on Sunday: "We experienced an unplanned mains power outage at the Cowes High Street pumping station overnight, which resulted in a release.

"Our teams responded immediately, deploying tankers and generators, and power was restored in just over an hour and a half. The Environment Agency was notified straight away and the discharge was permitted under emergency conditions due to loss of power.

"We have taken additional water samples, with results pending. We're sorry for any concern caused by this incident."

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