Cole-Hamilton reveals constituencies with most sewage spills and those with no monitoring

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today revealed the Scottish Parliament constituencies with the most sewage spills as well as those with no annual monitoring, as he urged the SNP to stop ignoring the problem and finally get tough on sewage dumping.

New analysis by his party reveals that a third Scottish Parliament constituencies did not have any sewage overflows with full annual monitoring data.

Of the constituencies which were monitored, Argyll and Bute had the highest number of sewage dumps, with 2,693 in 2024.

Aberdeen South and North Kincardine saw the highest volume of sewage dumped, with 10,770,099 cubic meters of sewage dumped.

Across Scotland in 2024, sewage was dumped 24,398 times. However, the problem is likely to be far worse because, unlike in England, only a small fraction of sewage overflow points have full annual monitoring data.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have launched plans for a Clean Water Act that 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;
• A complete ban on the release of sewage in protected areas such as bathing waters.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

"Every SNP MSP should be looking at the figures for their constituency and demanding the Scottish Government takes the sewage crisis far more seriously.

"SNP ministers have become spin doctors for the government-owned water company and its outdated standards. Bosses are taking home bumper bonuses while millions of litres of sewage get dumped into our rivers, lochs and beaches.

"Sewage was dumped 24,398 times last year, yet even that figure is likely to be a huge underestimate since so few overflow points are fully monitored. A third of constituencies lack full annual monitoring data whatsoever. In England, at least there is proper monitoring that provides a more accurate sense of the scale of the problem.

“To turn the tide on this scandal, Scottish Liberal Democrats have published plans for a Clean Water Act that would bring our sewage network into the 21st century, clamp down on dumping and get to the bottom of this disgusting practice."