Swimmers ‘shrug’ after being told of foul brown liquid pumping into Cornwall beauty spot

Children splash and play in a picturesque Cornwall bay completely oblivious to a “foul brown liquid” pumping into the water through a running drain.

In shocking footage, swimmers at Swanpool Beach, hailed for its “clear turquoise bay” near the outskirts of Falmouth, continue to swim in the water.

Described as the “perfect swimming spot” by Visit Cornwall brown liquid pours out of a rusty culvert marring the usually turquoise bay.

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The camera pans to reveal children and parents bathing in the record-breaking October sunshine. A dogwalker, who lives locally, said he had tried to warn the bathers about the “foul” liquid they were swimming in but he was met with shoulder shrugs of indifference on Sunday afternoon.

Have you been affected by sewage problems? Email barney.davis@independent.co.uk

“I live in the area and was walking the dog,” the man, who did not wish to be named, told The Independent. “There were quite a few people crowded around as it looked so bad - there was a rotting smell. It looked horrible and had bits floating in it.

“I have to say I have no idea what it is, some have suggested it’s benign and some say it’s not a storm drain but an overflow for a local stream but it has definitely let sewage out before.

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“There was another concerned lady with me who shouted to the swimmers but they just said they knew it was a storm drain and it was ok,” he continuied.

“We shouted back that storm drains were used for sewage and wouldn’t it be better to ‘err on the side of caution’ but we were met with shoulder shrugs.”

The dog walker said he contacted South West Water and was asked to explain exactly where it was so they could investigate.

The company later confirmed to the Independent that they did not own the pipe in question, adding that it takes excess water from an adjoining natural lagoon and nature reserve.

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“I don’t let my dog on the beach when it’s like that let alone go in myself,” the walker added. “Even if it isn’t human sewage it could be harmful farm runoff or it could well be harmless and just look foul but who would risk it?

“The trouble is now even disgusting looking but ‘innocent’ spills aren’t believed because of the water companies crying wolf and lying over real sewage spills.”

Visit Cornwall describe Swanpool Beach as the “perfect swimming spot” with its small, sandy cove complete with a sheltered, clear turquoise bay.

There is an emergency sewer overflow from the Queen Mary Gardens pumping station that discharges to the sea approximately 420m east of the bathing water.

Swanpool nature reserve, which backs onto the bay, is considered a prime example of a brackish lagoon, a rare habitat, covering only 770 hectares in Britain.

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In the nineties, it was discovered that beneath the water lies the trembling sea mat, a group of primitive microscopic animals called bryozoa which live in underwater colonies and thrive at Swanpool on the balance of salt and fresh water.

Last year, 112 sewage monitors were found to be faulty in swimming water areas which equates to one in ten of the sewage monitors installed for these sites.

The worst offender of all the companies for broken monitors installed in swimming waters was South West Water, which had 31 broken monitors.

It came as campaigners SOS protested the pollution levels in the seaside town of Whitstable which suffered more sewage releases than any other location in Kent in 2022.

From data analysed from Southern Water’s water quality reporting website, Beachbuoy, campaigners found the water company released 648 hours of sewage, across 208 occasions, into the sea at Whitstable in 2022.

As of September 10, 2023, the group also discovered 591 hours of sewage washed up in the sea over 160 separate times.

Water bills could rise by about £156 per year by 2030 to help providers invest in building the infrastructure to prevent 140,000 sewage overflow spills a year.