iStockScottish Water CEO Alex Plant has been challenged to drink a glass of river water from a sewage overflow point of conservationist and ex-Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey’s choosing.
Mr Sharkey laid down the challenge on X on Sunday morning after the public water company revealed that it spilt at least 30m cubic metres of wastewater into Scottish waterways last year – enough to fill 12,000 Olympic swimming pools.
The nationalised water company reported 24,398 overflow events – or so-called sewage dumps – in 2024 which lasted for 208,377 hours.
A company spokesman has defended these figures, claiming that only 1% of runoff is wastewater from toilets—the other 99% is rainwater, road runoff, and grey water.
However, Mr Plant has been challenged to put that to the test by Mr Sharkey.
“It’s 99% rainwater they scream. Well, Mr Plant, drink a glass of your 99% rainwater from a sewage overflow of my choosing, and I’ll donate £1,000 of my money to a charity of your choosing. Clock’s ticking,” Sharkey said.
The figures were published as part of Scottish Water’s annual reported and non-reported overflow event data.
The number of overflow events reported to SEPA increased by 1,058, but the total duration and volume of wastewater both improved by about 16,000 hours and 1.3m cubic metres in 2024.
However, Scottish Lib-Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the 24,398 known “sewage dumps” are only part of the picture.
“24,398 sewage dumps are bad enough, but as a result of the lack of data, it will be an underestimate.
“In England, 100% of sewage overflows are monitored, whereas Scotland is lagging badly behind,” he said.
“People can see the impact of sewage dumping on their local beaches and in their local rivers. They deserve to know the full picture about this disgusting practice.”
Hamilton accused Scottish Water bosses, like Mr Plant, of getting “eye-watering bonuses while presiding over outdated sewage standards”.
“Scottish Government needs to get serious about providing transparency on sewage,” Hamilton said.
However, a spokesperson for Scottish Water said the company monitors “more overflows than ever before” and has invested “more than ever” in the wastewater network to improve the Scottish water quality.
“Scottish Water does not ‘dump’ sewage into water bodies,” the spokesperson said.
“Overflows are a necessary part of the wastewater network, which help prevent flooding. 99% of what is released is rainwater, road run-off, and grey water.
“Less than 1% is sewage, and at this level of dilution, it will not cause environmental harm.”
The spokesperson added these overflows occur when networks are transferring huge amounts of rainwater from homes, other buildings and roads to help prevent flooding.
The company said a total of 87% of the water environment in Scotland is rated as “good or better” by SEPA.
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