Is sewage spilling near you?

How this works

Combined sewers carry rainwater and sewage in one pipe. When heavy rain overwhelms them, storm overflows release the excess, diluted but untreated, into rivers and the sea rather than backing up into streets and homes. Since 2023 every overflow in England has an Event Duration Monitor, and the nine water and sewerage companies publish each monitor’s status within an hour of a spill starting or stopping. The page asks all nine live feeds for the circle around your postcode, the same feeds behind Water UK’s National Storm Overflow Hub, and refreshes every five minutes while the page is open. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland publish their own maps and are linked from the page.

Sources

• Storm overflow activity feeds from Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent Water, Southern Water, South West Water, Thames Water, United Utilities, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water, each licensed under CC BY 4.0.
• Postcodes: postcodes.io / ONS Postcode Directory (OGL v3).

For information only. Monitors can lag or fail; the water company’s own map and any signs on the bank or beach are the authority.