Sewage dumped in Scotland's rivers 14,000 times in 2022 - nearly 40 times a day
dailyrecord.co.ukSewage was dumped in Scottish waterways more than 14,000 times last year - a staggering rate of nearly 40 incidents a day.Rocker-turned-pollution campaigner Feargal Sharkey said horrendous new figures for 2022 laid bare the “full scale of the horror and abuse of Scotland's rivers”.The stats, newly-published by Scottish Water, reveal a shocking 47million cubic metres of waste was dumped in our waters last year - equal to nearly 19,000 Olympic swimming pools.And sewage was discharged an unbelievable 14,008 times in 2022 - an average of about 38 “overflow events” every single day, the highest number of incidents on record.The Lib Dems branded the revelations “disgusting” - and joined ex-Undertones frontman Sharkey in demanding urgent action from the Scottish Government.Sewer overflows, which release untreated sewage into rivers and coastal waters, are only intended to operate during extreme weather events.We revealed new analysis yesterday of sewage spills in 2021 which showed glaring gaps in data - with just 4 per cent of overflows monitored in Scotland, compared to around 90 per cent in England.Scottish Water has vowed to ramp up the number of storm drain monitors in use to more than 1000 by the end of 2024.But in light of these latest figures, popstar Sharkey, 64 - now a key voice sounding the alarm over filthy waterways across the UK - hit out: “The full scale of the horror and abuse of Scotland's rivers is slowly being laid bare."Government should now, as a matter of urgency, demand that Scottish Water roll out those monitors across the rest of the network, so that the people of Scotland can have the transparency they're entitled to."They deserve to see exactly what impact the government and Scottish Water are having
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