If you use our Safer Seas and Rivers Service (SSRS) app, we’re making a change to how we display sewage alerts in the Southern Water region. We want to be upfront about what’s changed, why we made this call, and what it means for you.
Background
The SSRS app takes real-time sewage discharge data from water companies and turns it into something simple and actionable: a red cross or a green tick. Red means sewage risk, green means no sewage risk. Thousands of swimmers, surfers and paddlers rely on it every day.
Surfers Against Sewage does not set the rules for how individual sewage discharges get turned into bathing water alerts. Instead, each water company operates its own model with its own definition of an alert.
This has created a deeply disjointed picture across the UK. With no national standards, the very companies doing the polluting get to define the risk. That’s a fundamental conflict of interests — and it’s unacceptable when millions of water users are potentially being exposed to sewage-polluted water when they swim, surf or paddle.
That’s where SAS comes in. We scrutinise what each water company is doing, assess how we pull their data through, and make independent judgements about where alert systems are fit for purpose — and where they’re not.
The lack of meaningful regulation around sewage alerts has created a confusing message to the public about whether it’s safe to swim or not.
Surfers Against Sewage cut through the noise and give water users the clearest, most accurate alerts we can.
Our system is even cited in the government’s ‘Swim Healthy‘ guidance, which showcases the level of trust in our service.
History of the Southern Water Model
When Southern Water introduced their modelling system in September 2023, we rejected it. Despite Southern Water investing in their model and involving external working groups and communities in the process, our own internal assessment — and concerns raised through a local steering group made up of local campaign groups, Surfers Against Sewage local reps, and everyday water users — meant we weren’t confident the model reliably reflected real-world pollution risk. A model that underestimates danger doesn’t protect people — it creates blind spots. So we kept the more cautious approach.
For the past few years, we’ve spent time scrutinising the model, attending steering group meetings, and pushing Southern Water for improvements in the models accuracy.
Improvements had continually been made and, critically, the model underwent an independent review coordinated by Atkins Realis.
At the same time, we’ve had to be honest about a real problem with our precautionary approach: over-alerting. When warnings go out too frequently — including at times when conditions may be safe — people start to tune them out. Trust in the system erodes. And an alert that nobody believes in protects nobody.
There’s an economic dimension to this too. Coastal businesses — surf schools, beach cafés, hire operators and local tourism — can take a serious financial hit when pollution alerts go out unnecessarily. Livelihoods depend on people feeling confident enough to get in the water, and a system that potentially over-alerts causes real damage to communities that are already navigating a tough environment.
So, what’s changing?
From June 2026, the SSRS app will display Southern Water’s modelled alerts across their bathing waters, rather than our previous precautionary approach based on Southern Water’s older system. This means there are likely to be fewer alerts at your local swim spot on the app, but when alerts are issued they will be more accurate.
We are not saying Southern Water’s model is good enough. We are saying it is better than it was, and that aligning our alerts with theirs reduces confusion for the people trying to make real-time decisions about whether to get in the water.
Serious concerns from the local community do still remain. Mike Owens, a campaigner from Hayling Sewage Watch, continues to raise issues with the model.
Mike says:
“The model has not been properly verified against real-world water quality data. Southern Water possesses extensive datasets but, to date, has not used them for meaningful model validation. There is therefore a clear risk that the warnings being generated do not accurately reflect actual water quality conditions.”
This situation shouldn’t exist.
Firstly, because there should not be sewage being dumped in the places we love to swim.
Secondly, because when sewage is discharged, water users shouldn’t have to navigate competing alert systems, unverified models, and a regulatory vacuum.
That’s why we will continue to campaign for a mandatory national sewage alerting standard — one that is independent of water companies’ interests, grounded in real-world data, and legally required to protect public health.
Until that exists, we’ll keep asking hard questions, scrutinising the evidence, and making the best calls we can with the information available so our alert service can be used with confidence and help protect people from getting sick.
SAS Paddle Out Protest 2026 on the Isle Of Wight
📷 Paul Blackley
Stay informed, Stay safe
If you are a water user and want to know if the water is safe, download the Safer Seas and Rivers Service app, check the map, and stay informed. The more people using it, the stronger the case for a system that genuinely works for water users — not water companies.
And if you want to help campaign for better alerts or understand the risks, don’t hesitate to reach out to us and start a conversation.
