Paddle-Out Protests: UK water users take to the waves in sewage outrage

Surfers Against Sewage protest in Falmouth, Cornwall. image: Shutterstock

Public demand radical reform as sewage spills continue to pollute UK waters

Thousands of swimmers, surfers and kayakers across the UK will join forces this Saturday 17 May in a series of coordinated Paddle-Out Protests, demanding urgent action on the country’s worsening sewage pollution crisis. Organised by environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), the mass mobilisation coincides with the start of the official bathing season in England and Wales.

The protests come amid stark findings that just 19 per cent of UK adults believe they’ll be able to swim safely in their local blue spaces by 2030, with more than half worried they’ll become ill if they take a dip. Public trust in water companies and government regulation is also plummeting — fewer than one in three trust the government to enforce infrastructure improvements.

A tidal wave of protest

The Paddle-Out Protests, which are expected to draw crowds at more than 40 locations from Brighton to Belhaven Bay and Portrush to Pembrokeshire, aim to highlight systemic failures in the water industry. Campaigners are calling for full-scale reform, demanding that public health and environmental protection take priority over shareholder profits.

In 2024 alone, sewage was discharged into UK waters over half a million times — that’s an average of one spill every minute. Among the worst offenders, United Utilities led the pack with 77,000 recorded spills, followed by Severn Trent, Wessex and Thames Water. Welsh Water alone accounted for 118,276 discharges — more than one every five minutes. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, limited monitoring makes the true scale unknown, but SAS estimates suggest over 425,000 combined spills.

Voices from the water

Giles Bristow, CEO of SAS, says the protests are a response to corporate failure and political inaction: ‘The public has simply had enough. We are paddling out in our thousands to send a clear message to government and polluters: end this sewage scandal now. We cannot continue to swim and surf in sewage while shareholders cash in and communities suffer.’

Among those joining the protests is Stuart Davies, SAS organiser in Brighton, who says: ‘We’re stuck in the same cycle every year — record levels of pollution, cancelled swim events, young people missing out on surf therapy. Enough is enough.’

East Lothian swimmer Shelley Sim, hospitalised after entering polluted water, is taking part at Belhaven Bay. Sher says: ‘Clean water is a right, not a luxury. Our seas should be places of healing and sanctuary, not fear. That’s why we’re paddling out — together.’

A broken system under scrutiny

The Paddle-Outs follow recent revelations that English water companies failed to meet Environment Agency targets to reduce spills. Instead of achieving a promised 40 per cent reduction, incidents rose by 30 per cent — the worst year in over a decade.

SAS’s free Safer Seas & Rivers Service app, which provides real-time pollution alerts at 450 UK locations, has become a crucial tool for water users. However, due to inadequate monitoring in Scotland and Northern Ireland (where only 6.7 per cent and 4.3 per cent of networks are tracked respectively), the app cannot offer alerts in these areas — another focus of the campaign.

The protests also come as the UK’s Independent Water Commission prepares to publish its recommendations on reforming the water industry. Campaigners want nothing short of transformational change, with legal guarantees on pollution reduction and transparency.