Millions of bio-beads, which are commonly used to purify water in older treatment plants, washed up on the East Sussex beach on November 9, stretching along the entire two-mile coastline.
The incident was described as an environmental catastrophe by ecologists and a local MP.
Environmental experts warned that the beads can kill marine wildlife if they are ingested by fish and seabirds. They also pose a risk to human health if they enter the food chain.
Southern Water later admitted that the pellets “most likely” escaped from a local wastewater treatment works, due to a malfunctioning filter.
An investigation by The Guardian newspaper this week said that single mesh screens are all that prevent billions of the beads from spilling into the environment, adding that most of the sewage works using these beads “were built about 30 years ago”.
Despite the risks, neither the government nor the regulators keep a record of the water companies that use bio-beads, but following a request for information by this newspaper, South West Water (SWW) revealed that two of its plants in East Devon currently use them – at Maer Lane in Exmouth and in Uplyme.
However, according to a SWW spokesperson, there have been “no issues with containment” so far, adding that bio-beads will be phased out by 2028 as part of SWW’s planned £38m upgrades.
In a statement, the company added: “Only eight of our 655 wastewater treatment works use bio-beads, which are all fitted with two levels of robust containment measures and are inspected to ensure beads are kept within the treatment works.
“Decommissioning these plants is very costly as it requires the whole treatment process to be completely replaced. We are aiming to remove the bio-bead process at our remaining sites when they are required to be upgraded in the future.”
The spokesperson also pointed out that SWW had installed a “secondary containment mesh” as an additional control measure at its eight works with bio-beads.
Following the incident at Camber Sands, the Environment Agency (EA) said it would take “robust enforcement action where appropriate”, while environment secretary Emma Reynolds called for a “thorough investigation”, adding that she would hold Southern Water to account.
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