Moray Firth worst hit by more than one billion litres of ‘sewage’ dumped in Highlands waters last year as LibDem’s Neil Alexander warn 45% spike could get worse

MORE than a billion litres of “sewage” was dumped in waters around the Highlands last year - sparking calls for new legislation.

Inverness and Nairn Lib Dem candidate for Holyrood, Neil Alexander, said without action the “45 per cent increase in the volume of sewage spilled locally in the last year” could get worse.

He said: “We should be seeing urgent action by Scottish Government ministers, instead all they do is pretend there isn’t a problem.”

Cabinet secretary for climate action and energy, Gillian Martin, said treated sewage is not the same as raw sewage or wastewater.

But Mr Alexander pointed to examples of how some areas have been blighted, with most Highland sewage dumps within the Inverness and Nairn constituency.

A monitoring site in Longman, Inverness reported over 500 million litres of sewage spilled into the Inner Moray Firth last year. Another, near Nairn golf course, reported over 200 million litres of spillages in 2024.

Marine Conservation Society analysis found sewage was discharged into seas around Scotland for more than 113,000 hours last year, based on 3.4 per cent of storm overflows monitored (compared to 91 per cent in England).

The Lib Dems claim their plans for a Clean Water Act would see every sewage dump monitored and published, with binding targets for reduction.

There would also be a blue flag system for rivers, and a ban on sewage release in protected areas.

Mr Alexander said: “To think over one billion litres of sewage has been dumped in our Highland waters is boke-worthy. In Inverness and Nairn alone we've seen a 45 per cent increase in the volume of sewage spilled in the last year. We should be seeing urgent action by Scottish Government ministers, instead all they do is pretend there isn’t a problem.”

He is not alone with his concerns, last month a group of protesters gathered at Nairn Beach to voice their concerns over sewage pollution and its impact on the local environment.

That was organised by Surfers Against Sewage, and Jason Simpson told us that “there have been concerns about sewage in my local bay for years with local surfers suffering from similar infections and illnesses after surfing at our local reefs and beaches.

“Scottish Water recently added an overflow map to their website which shows when raw sewage is being discharged into our local river in Thurso, which then flows a few hundred meters into Thurso East which is one of the best surf locations in the UK if not Europe.

“After reviewing [Scottish Water data on] how often the discharges took place and for how long sewage is discharged for, it is only then we realised the magnitude of the problem because effectively every time it rains, raw sewage is discharged into our river mouth”.

Ms Martin countered: “It is not accurate to call spills from the wastewater network ‘sewage dumps’ as typically, what is spilled is wastewater which has been highly diluted by rainwater.

“We take the issue of pollution very seriously. That is why Scottish Water is committing up to £500 million to further improve water quality, increase monitoring of the highest priority waters and tackle debris and spills. 87 per cent of Scotland’s entire water environment already has a ‘high’ or ‘good’ classification for water quality.”

A Scottish Water spokesperson said more overflows than ever before are being monitored and added: “Scotland’s water quality is at its highest level ever and we remain committed to targeting resources and investment to preserve and protect Scotland’s water environment.”

David Cooper, SEPA senior manager, insisted that it would continue to monitor Scottish Water’s progress on improvement on spillages, “using our regulatory powers if required.”

“A delivery plan to improve discharges from Combined Sewer Overflows and improve understanding of when and where discharges occur,” he said.

“Scottish Water has since installed 1000 new monitors at sewerage outfalls within 2km of all designated bathing waters. This near real-time information is now available to the public on Scottish Water’s overflow map.”

He added: “We will continue to monitor Scottish Water’s progress against delivery of the Routemap commitments, using our regulatory powers if required.”

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