Surfers Against Sewage

The Old Counthouse Warehouse, Wheal Kitty,
St Agnes, Cornwall, TR5 0RE

Tel: 01872 553001 - Fax: 01872 552615

What is SAS and what do they do?

Surfers Against Sewage was formed in May 1990 and is now regarded as one of the most successful, fastest growing pressure groups in the country. SAS is a high profile, media oriented campaign. They use the media to get their message across to millions of people with the aim of changing public opinion to the point where something must be done. SAS realises that one of the key parts of any debate is to provide an answer to the problem. They spend a lot of time putting together a winning argument, whether it be about the levels of treatment or the cost of that treatment, they research and understand the debate and equally importantly educate the key decision makers of the time so that they are aware of all of the facts.

What is the problem?

300 million gallons of sewage are discharged to sea every day via the outfalls around our coastline. In addition to this an estimated 2 million tonnes of toxic waste are discharged to sea every year. Two main problems arise from this discharge: the visible sewage debris and more importantly the risks to health that can occur after using sewage polluted waters.

The answer

SAS call for the full treatment of all sewage discharged. This means:

Screening: to remove all plastics and grit
Primary settlement: raw sewage is held in tanks allowing all the lumps to fall to the bottom.
Secondary treatment: a form of biological treatment which lowers the demand for oxygen
Disinfection: SAS support non-chemical means of killing viruses and bacterium that remain in the sewage after the first steps have been applied, favoured options are ultra-violet light disinfection and microfiltration
Reusing of sludge: it is a vital source of nutrients and liquid. This was recommened by the House of Commons Select Committee

Costs

As often as not it is cheaper to fully treat the sewage rather than applying the minimum treatment and then it being necessary to construct long outfall pipes to pump the waste through.

What can you do to help?

By simply becoming a member and swelling the SA