Useful links and addresses
Report a pollution incident directly to the Environment Agency hotline
You need to call the Environment Agency incident hotline to report:
- damage or danger to the natural environment
- dead fish or fish gasping for air
- incidents at Environment Agency-regulated waste sites
- pollution to water or land
0800 80 70 60 this is a 24 hour service. If possible take photos. You will be asked for your details and details of the incident including the location, any signs of dead or dying fish / animals.
South West Water
SWW provide a number of ways to report problems, ask for advice or for environmental informations
Report a problem including sewer issue or pollution https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/report-a-problem This also provides a map of current SWW works across the region.
Problem with your water or sewerage supply 0344 346 2020 (between 5:00pm and 8:00am for emergencies only)
Information requests - eirenquiries@pennon-group.co.uk South West Water is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) but is subject to the Environmental Information Regulations (2004). To find out if your request falls within these regulations check here https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/environment/environmental-information-regulations
David Reed MP for Exmouth and East Exeter david.reed.mp@parliament.uk
Campaign groups, data sources and contacts
Surfers Against Sewage Safer Seas and Rivers Service - still the best app available for sewage pollution https://datahq.sas.org.uk/sewage-data-hq/is-it-safe-to-swim/
Data HQ - https://datahq.sas.org.uk/ explore sewage data, citizen science information, sickness reports and locations where people use the water
The River Trust Sewage Map - an easy to use interactive map includes live spills and historic spill data from the EDM returns https://theriverstrust.org/sewage-map
Top of the Poops - the worst areas for sewage pollution in the country https://top-of-the-poops.org/ It's not just Exmouth!
Water UK - the official name for the National Storm Overflow data Hub is STREAM (a lovely name!) hosted by the water industry trade body Water UK. The map only gives the latest spill start and stop time, no history and no alert after the spill has ended. It fulfills the requirement of the Environment Act (2021) section 81. The only reason we included it here is because it uses Open Data so other sites can present the information in a way that is useful to the public. https://www.streamwaterdata.co.uk/pages/the-national-storm-overflow-hub
Article published Monday 24th February 2025