Devon River endures 100+ days of sewage spills

Harbourne hit hard last year

New figures show that raw sewage was spilt into a Devon river for more than 103 days in 2025.

The figures, published by the Environment Agency (EA), reveal that the Harbourne River had sewage dumped into it for 2,494 hours during the course of the year.

The EA has published the figures for more than 14,000 waterways around the country, but Liberal Democrat MPs say the government and the privatised water companies are just muddying the waters around the scale of pollution.

They say the figures only show the duration and number of spills, and fail to convey the environmental damage being caused. The volume of sewage discharged is not calculated as part of the figures.

South Devon MP Caroline Voaden has joined colleagues in calling for an immediate end to what the Lib Dems call the ‘Great Sewage Cover-up’. She said: “You wouldn’t go into a pub and ask for three and a half seconds of Guinness, so why are we measuring sewage spills in this way?

“These statistics are absolutely shocking, but they are only the tip of the iceberg. The truth about how much sewage is being spilled into our rivers, lakes and seas is unclear, thanks to the government letting water companies off the hook. 

“The public deserves to know the truth, and that’s why I’m calling on the government to end the Great Sewage Cover-up, and force South West Water (SWW) to record the volume of sewage spilling into our local waterways.”

The figures show that there were 46,000 spills in the SWW area in 2025 for a duration of 407,000 hours, with an average duration of 8.8 hours. The figures are down on those recorded in 2024, but remain among the highest in the country.

SWW says it is investing in its sewerage system, and has cut the number of spills as well as their duration.

The Harbourne River rises on Dartmoor and flows through Harberton and Harbertonford before joining the River Dart at Bow Creek.