A Clean Water Act for Scotland
Sewage was dumped into Scotland's waterways 14,000 times last year. This was enough sewage to fill 19,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.
Our plan
We would pass a Clean Water Act to clean up Scotland's waterways which would see:
- Scotland’s Victorian sewage network updated
- Every sewage dump monitored and published with binding targets for their reduction.
- A blue flag system for Scotland’s rivers.
- And a complete ban on the release of sewage in protected areas such as bathing waters.
The scale of sewage dumping in Scotland is absolutely disgusting. Every SNP representative for an area where this is happening should hang their heads in shame.
Alex Cole-Hamilton
In England almost every sewage overflow is monitored but here the monitoring is far more rudimentary with just 4% of overflows getting the same treatment.
That means there is every reason to believe that the current volumes are a significant underestimate of the true figure.
Things look especially unpleasant for Scotland's beaches as we uncovered that in 2022 sewage was dumped onto Scotland's best beaches 411 times.
As a part of those figures we also discovered that in the vicinity of Peterhead Lido sewage was discharged for a staggering 483 hours last year.
These award-winning beaches should be protected and pristine. They draw tourists, families and wild swimmers.
SNP ministers have become little more than spin doctors for the failing, government-owned water company and its outdated standards.
Alex Cole-Hamilton
Unfortunately, the problem of sewage does not end with it polluting the rivers and beaches of Scotland.
Our research has uncovered the shocking fact that there were almost 200 sewage leaks in Scottish hospitals over the last 4 years, with half of health boards reporting leaks.
This includes a staggering 105 leaks at Monklands hospital in Lanarkshire alone, as well as 4 leaks at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
The Scottish Government seem to be adrift without a plan when it comes to sewage, but we have a plan.
Our manifesto for the next Scottish Parliament elections will contain provision for the Clean Water Act to clean up Scotland's rivers, beaches and waterways.