THIS STINKS

Figures show enough sewage to fill 14,000 Olympic pools was dumped in rivers in just one year

- DAN VEVERS

A SHOCKING 14,000 Olympic swimming pools' worth of sewage dumped in Scotland's rivers in a year could be just the tip of the iceberg, we can reveal.

Analysis of sewer overspill data from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has flagged up thousands of occasions in 2021 in which the volume of waste overflowing into waterways was not logged.

On top of that, authorities are only required to monitor four per cent of overflows in our 31,000mile sewer network - compared with England, which monitors 89 per cent.

It comes amid a growing campaign south of the Border to clean up sewage-polluted rivers with music star-turned-eco warrior Feargal Sharkey a key figure.

Speaking to the Record, the Undertones frontman said efforts to tackle the problem in Scotland were hamstrung by lack of proper monitoring.

Sharkey, 64, said: "The simple truth of the matter and I guarantee you the same applies in Scotland - there's a lack of political oversight and a failure of the regulatory system to properly monitor what these companies are getting up to." The rock icon, also a keen angler, has been leading the charge for cleaner waters and greater transparency around sewage dumps - particularly in England, where water companies were privatised.

But our analysis, produced alongside the Scottish Lib Dems, shows gaps in data provided by state-owned Scottish Water on sewage spills north of the Border.

There were 10,799 sewage "overspill events" in Scotland in 2021 - the last year we have stats for. But in nearly half of cases 5219 no record was made of the volume discharged.

The amounts recorded nationwide, however, totalled 34million cubic metres - the equivalent of 13,600 Olympic pools.

In 2020, the figures were even worse, with more than 12,000 overflow events and 48million cubic metres of waste discharged, or 19,200 Olympic pools' worth.