It was reported that on Friday 3rd December that raw sewage was spilling out into Hooe Lake.
HOOE residents were horrified when they noticed raw sewage flowing into Hooe Lake yesterday morning. The tide was out, and they were disgusted to see toilet paper, feces, and condoms spilling into the tidal lake from a pipe emerging from under Hooe Green. A local resident said a neighbour alerted him to the problem at about 9.30 a.m. after spotting flocks of seagulls gathering by the outfall.
This is an excerpt from the ‘This is Plymouth website’ 
My Dad & I fish her a lot. I am disgusted that the treatment plant has released this raw sewage and nothing has been done about it, like pretty much all cases similar to this there was probably no reason as to why they dumped it? It is likely to have been done just to save a little money, that’s because they don’t care about the fish. I mean would you like it if you were a fish and suddenly 6,000 litres or so of raw sewage was pumped into your home?
It’s not just raw sewage that ends up in rivers and the sea, toxic chemicals from factories find there way into rivers and seaside shallows. Pesticides etc. end up in small tributaries which lead to rivers which end up in the sea where your children are playing. Cruise ships also leave a trail of sewage where they have sailed by.
New laws have now been enforced and marine protection areas have been created. That all seems much better now but all they will do is just extend the length of the outfall pipe. it’s all so corrupt and you could in fact call it ‘evil’?
You may of heard of a combined sewage outfall pipe (CSO)? These are good and bad, they are good because they prevent sewage from backing up into cafe’s, homes and streets, that is all they’re good for, they are bad because they make a horrid smell, they pollute, they harm nature quite badly, they often contain extremely harmful chemicals and wash up onto beaches where people are playing on the shore line (babies, young children) and where people are swimming. We’ve all swallowed a bit of sea water at some point, well that COULD have been enough to put you in a&e!
You also may of heard of sewage related debris, this includes condoms, baby wipes etc. these don’t look nice washed up on beaches. Please I urge you not to flush these sorts of items down the toilet (these items will also block up the sewer system).
You CAN make a difference! Start by using (if possible) eco washes with your dishwashers and washing machines use eco friendly soap and detergent. Bin it don’t flush it! Bin condoms, baby wipes and sanitary towels. You could if you want to, donate some money to surfers against sewage or Greenpeace. They do make a difference or if you feel strongly about this issue even write to the Prime Minister urging them to be strict on illegal dumping.
If you witness a pollution event, the first thing to do is to contact the Environment Agency (EA) Pollution Hotline on Tel: 0800 80 70 60.
This number is the same in Scotland (for SEPA) and Northern Ireland (for NIEA).
The EA (or their equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland) act a bit like the ‘green police’ and will go and check it for any suspected water pollution. Once you have reported an incident they MUST investigate it. You’ll need to provide them with all the relevant details, so make a note of the time you saw the pollution as well as where you saw it. If you can take a picture EVEN BETTER!
Make sure you give them a contact number for you and ASK them to call you back when they’ve examined your report to see what action may need taking.
STEP 2
Then contact SAS Pollution Hotline on Tel: 01872 555950.
Whilst we are not always able to visit a pollution incident first hand we want to know about it! It may well be that we have had previous reports of pollution at the same site and by you contacting us we are able to build up a case file, which could be used in securing long term improvements to the site.
But remember to register it first with the EA so there is an official record of the event. This gives us much more to work with when pushing for a prosecution or an infrastructure improvement.
STEP 3
As possibly a local resident you might be experiencing sewage pollution incidents in your area on a regular basis and have already established that investment may be required to rectify what may be both an environmental and human health hazard.
You will therefore need to establish where the sewage is being discharged and by whom. It may well be a main outfall pipe (usually discharging some distance offshore) or it could be a Combined Sewage and Storm Water Overflow (CSO) or a Storm Sewage Overflow (SSO). These are sometimes more difficult to locate, discharging into streams near to sewage treatment works or sewage pumping stations. They tend to operate when a holding tank at the sewage treatment works cannot cope with the flows of sewage and wastewater entering the works and so it gets discharged untreated into a watercourse. Whilst the sewage will get diluted the bacterial loads are often very high and could cause illness for those coming into contact with the sewage-polluted water.
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