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There were at least 17,748 "sewage spills" into shellfish areas in 2025, lasting an almost unbelievable 115,945 hours

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Contains OS Data © Crown copyright & database right 2021-2024
© Top of the Poops 2021-2024
Double click on map to zoom. Double click on shellfish area to see shellfish page Use two fingers to move the map. Double-tap on shellfish area to see shellfish page

Shellfish Areas Ranked for 2025

Here are all the shellfish areas in England and Wales that had sewage overflows in 2025.

Rank Shellfish Area Company Sewage Dumps Change Duration (Hours) Change
1 Fal Estuary South West Water 1,644 17 13,633 -312
2 Teign Estuary South West Water 1,519 -435 12,817 -5,495
3 Exe Estuary South West Water 1,653 -405 10,641 -3,988
4 Ribble United Utilities 1,118 1,085 5,974 5,808
5 Dart South West Water 1,028 -346 5,275 -3,716
6 North Wirral (East) United Utilities 967 967 5,228 5,228
7 Morecambe Bay East United Utilities 332 -111 4,217 -525
8 Taw-Torridge Estuary South West Water 919 -243 4,189 -3,080
9 Chichester Harbour (Chichester Channel) Southern Water 189 -177 3,672 -3,943
10 Fowey South West Water 491 -179 2,964 -1,143
11 Morecambe Bay (Leven) United Utilities 184 92 2,783 1,437
12 Burry Inlet (North) Dwr Cymru Welsh Water 347 79 2,198 645
13 Camel Estuary South West Water 364 -115 2,043 -1,015
14 Bigbury and Avon South West Water 232 -97 2,040 -656
15 Dee (East) Dwr Cymru Welsh Water 314 -293 2,015 -2,897
16 Swans E Dwr Cymru Welsh Water 156 -42 1,877 -370
17 Cowes and Medina Southern Water 246 -126 1,589 -986
18 Salcombe South West Water 287 -203 1,539 -3,100
19 Portsmouth Harbour Southern Water 199 -165 1,467 -2,125
20 Duddon; Walney United Utilities 185 185 1,467 1,467
21 Burry Inlet (South) Dwr Cymru Welsh Water 228 64 1,424 515
22 Walney; Roosebeck United Utilities 230 230 1,381 1,381
23 Southampton Water Southern Water 184 -313 1,304 -3,258
24 Yealm South West Water 183 -37 1,280 0
25 Walney United Utilities 432 -309 1,264 -2,048
26 Lymington and Sowley; Pennington; Yarmouth Southern Water 102 102 1,093 1,093
27 St Austell Bay South West Water 115 -36 1,070 -447
28 Chichester Harbour (Chichester Channel); Chichester Harbour (Thornham Channel) Southern Water 66 66 988 988
29 Ryde Southern Water 152 -170 957 -2,644
30 Cowes and Medina; Ryde Southern Water 161 161 783 783
31 Southampton Water; Approaches to Southampton Water Southern Water 116 116 776 776
32 Central Solent; Cowes and Medina; Spithead and Stokes Bay; Stanswood Bay Southern Water 216 216 776 776
33 Cowes and Medina; Ryde; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 158 158 734 734
34 Poole Bay; Poole Harbour North; Poole Harbour South; Poole Harbour West Wessex Water 163 163 702 702
35 Chichester Harbour (Emsworth Channel); Langstone Harbour; Portsmouth Harbour Southern Water 68 68 664 664
36 Start Bay South West Water 40 -28 654 -594
37 Duddon United Utilities 48 2 595 180
38 Menai E Dwr Cymru Welsh Water 32 13 592 407
39 North Wirral (West) United Utilities 159 159 557 557
40 Helford River South West Water 87 4 548 124
41 Central Solent; Cowes and Medina; Lepe Middle Bank; Stanswood Bay Southern Water 202 202 546 546
42 Lymington and Sowley; Pennington Southern Water 71 71 536 536
43 Morecambe Bay East; Lune (Broadfleet and Plover Scar) United Utilities 121 121 530 530
44 Chichester Harbour (Emsworth Channel); Langstone Harbour; Portsmouth Harbour; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 95 95 523 523
45 Pennington Southern Water 45 -87 509 -1,793
46 Cowes and Medina; Lepe Middle Bank; Lymington and Sowley; Newtown Southern Water 63 63 480 480
47 Lymington and Sowley; Pennington; Newtown; Yarmouth Southern Water 112 112 461 461
48 Chichester Harbour (Chichester Channel); Chichester Harbour (Emsworth Channel); Chichester Harbour (Thornham Channel) Southern Water 46 46 451 451
49 Swale East; Swalecliffe Southern Water 101 101 435 435
50 Pennington; Yarmouth Southern Water 94 94 411 411
51 Lune (Wyre Estuary); Lune (Broadfleet and Plover Scar) United Utilities 86 86 372 372
52 Chichester Harbour (Chichester Channel); Chichester Harbour (Emsworth Channel); Chichester Harbour (Thornham Channel); Langstone Harbour Southern Water 37 37 361 361
53 West Wash Anglian Water 84 -114 302 -609
54 Central Solent; Cowes and Medina; Ryde; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 38 38 283 283
55 Lune (Wyre Estuary) United Utilities 60 -170 283 -1,585
56 Newtown Southern Water 34 -78 280 -1,673
57 Beaulieu River; Lepe Middle Bank; Lymington and Sowley Southern Water 39 39 279 279
58 Lune (Broadfleet and Plover Scar) United Utilities 57 57 256 256
59 Red Wharf Dwr Cymru Welsh Water 44 -21 210 -193
60 Portsmouth Harbour; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 101 101 193 193
61 Swale Central Southern Water 72 -107 186 -1,999
62 Tollesbury Channel Anglian Water 17 -33 177 -650
63 Brixham South West Water 62 -6 151 -46
64 Sheppey; Southend Southern Water 37 37 143 143
65 Margate; Swalecliffe Southern Water 20 20 142 142
66 Deben Anglian Water 51 -32 131 1
67 South East Wash Anglian Water 39 -8 112 -120
68 Ryde; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 21 21 105 105
69 Swale Central; Swale East; Swalecliffe Southern Water 31 31 100 100
70 Newtown; Yarmouth Southern Water 27 27 94 94
71 Colne; Pyefleet Anglian Water 59 59 93 93
72 Southampton Water; Central Solent; Stanswood Bay; Approaches to Southampton Water Southern Water 16 16 93 93
73 Southampton Water; Approaches to Southampton Water; Central Solent; Cowes and Medina; Stanswood Bay Southern Water 15 15 91 91
74 Langstone Harbour; Portsmouth Harbour Southern Water 23 23 86 86
75 Colne Anglian Water 40 -96 76 -145
76 Langstone Harbour; Portsmouth Harbour; Ryde; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 43 43 58 58
77 Central Solent; Cowes and Medina; Portsmouth Harbour; Ryde; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 27 27 58 58
78 Portland Harbour East; Portland Harbour West Wessex Water 84 84 57 57
79 Swale Central; Swale East Southern Water 42 42 55 55
80 North East Wash Wessex Water 12 12 54 54
81 Roosebeck United Utilities 23 -43 48 -298
82 Southampton Water; Approaches to Southampton Water; Stanswood Bay Southern Water 15 15 42 42
83 Margate Southern Water 21 -4 37 13
84 Osea Island Anglian Water 4 -20 36 -364
85 Swale East; Swalecliffe; Margate Southern Water 12 12 30 30
86 Outer Thames; Southend; Outer Thames; Sheppey; Southend Southern Water 6 6 30 30
87 Foulness; Outer Thames; Sheppey; Southend Southern Water 23 23 28 28
88 Outer Thames; Sheppey; Swale East; Swalecliffe Southern Water 8 8 23 23
89 Walton Backwaters Anglian Water 3 -12 19 -54
90 Approaches to Southampton Water; Central Solent; Portsmouth Harbour; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 3 3 16 16
91 Porthcawl Dwr Cymru Welsh Water 11 -1 11 -7
92 Chichester Harbour (Emsworth Channel); Chichester Harbour (Thornham Channel); Langstone Harbour Southern Water 2 2 10 10
93 Sheppey; Swale Central; Swale East; Swalecliffe Southern Water 4 4 7 7
94 North Wirral (East); North Wirral (West) United Utilities 3 3 6 6
95 Swale Central; Swale East; Swale Central; Swale East; Swale Central; Swale East; Swale Central; Swale East Southern Water 12 12 5 5
96 Upper Roach Anglian Water 1 -11 5 -12
97 Approaches to Southampton Water; Central Solent; Cowes and Medina; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 1 1 2 2
98 Outer Thames Southern Water 2 0 2 0
99 Langstone Harbour Southern Water 3 -3 1 0
100 Lymington and Sowley; Newtown; Yarmouth Southern Water 1 1 1 1
101 Sheppey; Swale East; Swalecliffe Southern Water 1 1 0 0
102 Outer Thames; Sheppey; Swale Central; Swalecliffe Southern Water 1 1 0 0
103 Central Solent; Portsmouth Harbour; Ryde; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 1 1 0 0
104 Foulness Anglian Water 3 -1 0 0
105 Ryde; Spithead and Stokes Bay; Cowes and Medina Southern Water 1 1 0 0
106 Norton Creek Anglian Water 1 -91 0 -109
107 Langstone Harbour; Spithead and Stokes Bay Southern Water 0 0 0 0
108 Chichester Harbour (Emsworth Channel); Langstone Harbour Southern Water 0 0 0 0
109 Outer Thames; Sheppey; Southend Southern Water 0 0 0 0
110 Cowes and Medina; Lymington and Sowley; Newtown Southern Water 0 0 0 0
111 Dee (East); North Wirral (East) United Utilities 0 0 0 0
112 Approaches to Southampton Water Southern Water 0 0 0 0
113 Dee (East) United Utilities 0 -8 0 -18

Data Sources & Accuracy

EDM (Event Duration Monitoring) data and Consented Discharges to Controlled Waters with Conditions from Environment Agency & Data Map Wales, and Scottish Water

Experimental derived data from Thames Water API, Some data may be missing or inaccurate. Live sewage data from Stream Water API

Uses Environment Agency rainfall data from the real-time data API (Beta) - Rainfall data is delayed by up to two days.

This website is intended to provide an accurate representation of the Environment Agency data. The data is hard to use, and thus some errors may have been made. If you find something that is incorrect, please raise an issue at the GitHub issues page and we'll endeavour to fix it quickly.

This project is not associated, approved or endorsed by any of the companies whose logos you see here.

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