Scottish government told to take sewage 'crisis' seriously after record 100,000 spills
The Scottish government has been told to bring its sewage "crisis" under control after a record 100,000 spills were recorded in a single year.
By Sky News
Scottish Water recorded 100,041 wastewater overflows last year, according to the Sky News report, which said the figure was being described by the Scottish Liberal Democrats as a sewage “crisis”. The party has urged the Scottish government to take the issue seriously and bring it under control.
Scottish Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Sanne Dijkstra-Downie has written to Climate Action and Rural Affairs Secretary Gillian Martin calling for action. The letter said sewage was being dumped into rivers, lochs and beaches more than 100,000 times in 2025.
Scottish Water said 99% of wastewater discharged from sewer overflows in periods of heavy rain is rainwater and grey water from households and appliances, not sewage. The company said the higher number of recorded events reflects a larger dataset and more monitoring, not necessarily a like-for-like rise in overflow activity.
Gillian Martin responded that the claims were incorrect and said Scottish Water has published data from more locations, rather than overflows operating more often. She said Scottish Water currently has more than 2,000 overflow monitors in place, covering about half of overflows.