At least seven children became ill after swimming in a stretch of the River Dart in Devon, where untreated sewage had been discharged for approximately 16 hours earlier in the week. The children suffered severe vomiting and upset stomachs on the hottest day of the year while playing in the water near Chulmleigh and Chawleigh.
Parents Unaware of Sewage Discharge
Parents only discovered the sewage dump later via an online sewage discharge map, which showed that South West Water had released untreated sewage upstream for about 16 hours earlier in the week. Kelly Vipond’s two children were among those affected; her 12-year-old son began feeling sick the following day, and her older son fell ill a few days later. Other children who swam experienced projectile vomiting.
Speaking to the Express, Ms Vipond said: “It’s devastating that we can’t go in our local river. It’s a very small tributary. I was aware of the impact of sewage in our rivers. I had researched it a couple of years ago, and the little River Dart came out that it wasn’t too bad and didn’t have as much sewage as other local rivers. I was absolutely furious after that happened. I was absolutely livid. I was almost kicking myself that I didn’t look. I didn’t even think to check. We’d had torrential downpours two days before. I don’t think we’ll be going locally again. It’s put us off.”
Environment Agency and Political Response
Ms Vipond contacted the Environment Agency, which said South West Water would conduct tests at the site, but only the following day at the earliest. Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesman Tim Farron MP commented: “Hot summers are here to stay and naturally kids want to enjoy lakes, rivers and seas up and down the country, yet they are being put at constant risk by water companies. South West Water got their accounts back into the green, but have put their customers in the brown. Flagrant abuses by water companies using their monopolies to carve out profits, at the cost of public health, are unacceptable. Children naturally want to paddle during this extreme weather, but face the risk of sickness thanks to sustained sewage dumping across Britain. We cannot afford to hesitate - replace Ofwat with a clean water authority now.”
Previous Controversies and Company Response
The incident comes after the former boss of South West Water, Susan Davy, was handed a £270,000 bonus despite a parasite outbreak that contaminated drinking water, left more than 140 people ill, and caused a major public health scandal. Davy also received £100,000 for private security over two years while overseeing the company during major water quality failures. South West Water’s owner, Pennon Group, reported a pre-tax profit of £114 million last month, shortly after being fined £1.8 million for the 2024 Brixham cryptosporidium outbreak that hospitalised four people.
Liberal Democrat MP for North Devon Ian Roome said: “It is absolutely infuriating that families in Devon are apparently expected to consult a live sewage map before allowing their children to paddle in a local river. Last year, South West Water spilled sewage into bathing sites across the region over 7,900 times, that’s 22 times per day. Enough is enough, and parents should not be made to feel guilty for letting their children enjoy nature, particularly during the weather we are seeing. South West Water keeps getting away with discharging filthy sewage into our rivers, and we will look with interest at the results of their tests.”
A spokeswoman for Pennon said: “We’re sorry to hear people have been unwell and we take reports like this seriously. We are unable to comment on individual cases, but it is important to note that there are many factors that can affect river water quality, including agricultural and urban pollution. Following notification of the incident, we carried out on-site water quality testing at locations on the river, which did not indicate any evidence of pollution at the points tested. Our data also shows local storm overflows in the area were operating as they should. Even so, we are investing £760 million to tackle storm overflows and have already reduced spills by 17% over the past year.”
