Sewage debate comes to Broughty Ferry in hustings tour
Campaigners and water users in Scotland are calling for urgent action on the sewage crisis ahead of the upcoming Holyrood Elections.
Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is urging candidates to keep the toxic pollution of the country’s wild waters at the top of the election agenda and is taking the message on the road. SAS is taking the sewage debate to watersports hotspots, with election candidates invited to answer questions from locals at a series of hustings events.
And the tour will visit Broughty Ferry this evening (Thursday), between 7pm and 8.30pm and members of the public can register to attend at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/surfersagainstsewage1/2116316.
The campaign group is calling for urgent government action to reveal the truth about the true extent of the Scottish sewage scandal. In 2024, sewage was dumped in Scottish waters over 23,000 times, but these figures are from just 6.7% of the network. SAS says the true figures are likely to be much higher.
It found that, based on the available data for 2024 figures, Scottish Water has the highest average discharge rate of any UK water company at 89.3 discharges per combined sewage outflow.
In 2025, monitoring increased to 30%, with 70% of pipes going unmonitored.
The charity argues that incomplete monitoring means that the full scale of sewage discharges pouring into Scotland’s waters is unknown, meaning that water users are largely unaware of potential threats to their health due to poor water quality.
In its Election Manifesto, developed alongside Scottish water users, organisations and communities, SAS is urging the next Scottish Government to monitor 100% of sewage overflows and set legally binding targets to end untreated sewage discharges into bathing waters and popular water usage spots by 2030.
SAS is also pushing for improved water quality testing, with a world-leading water quality testing regime that monitors emerging pollutants to protect all water users, any time they choose to dive in. SAS is also demanding that the Scottish Government cuts plastic pollution and creates a circular economy.
Henry Swithinbank, SAS senio r policy and advocacy manager, said: “Decades of government inaction mean that Scottish waters are being polluted by sewage, plastic waste, and the toxic chemicals they carry- a perfect storm that’s making water users sick and choking our most cherished wild places.
"Water users in Scotland are totally in the dark when it comes to water quality. Only a third of the network is monitored, and this lack of transparency is putting swimmers, surfers and water users in Scotland at risk.
“This has to stop. Tackling the sewage crisis and protecting people must be at the top of the agenda for candidates in the upcoming elections. We're demanding the Scottish Government enforces the law with tough, properly funded regulation, and delivers full water quality monitoring and a commitment to protecting public health.”
Details about the manifesto can be found at www .sas.org.uk.