The CEO of a water company has been challenged to drink a glass of sewage discharge – with £1,000 at stake.
Thunderstorms and rain spread across both England and Wales today amid a yellow weather warning.
Homes and roads were hit hard by flooding, with central London brought to a standstill this afternoon.
In the town of Totton in Hampshire, a pumping station had been ‘overwhelmed’ which led to a discharge, the BBC reported.
Flooding came as pollution warnings were put in place at more than 40 beaches and swimming spots in England and Wales.
The south west and south coast of England were the worst affected, according to data gathered by environmental campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).
Several discharges have been made since Monday, which Southern Water say protect both homes and businesses.
But the company has said referring to the flooded liquid as ‘raw sewage’ is not accurate.
Feargal Sharkey, former frontman of the Undertones, took to Twitter to challenge Southern Water’s comments.
He challenged the company’s CEO to drink a glass of the discharge water.
He wrote: ‘SW [Southern Water] say what they dump out of sewage overflows is “95-97% rainwater”.
‘Challenge for Lawrence Gosden CEO of SW, drink a glass of what comes out of a CSO, time and place of my choosing and I’ll donate £1,000 to a charity of his choosing.’
His tweet soon gained traction with others calling for the CEO to ‘guzzle’ a glass of the water.
A spokesperson from Southern Water had earlier said: ‘Storm releases were made to protect homes, schools and businesses from flooding. The release is 95-97% rainwater and so should not be described as raw sewage.’
Swimmers were today advised against bathing at seven beaches in Cornwall as a result of storm sewage overflows, with four in Devon and five in Dorset also polluted by the recent downpours.
Nine beaches in Sussex, three on the Isle of Wight and three in Essex were also affected.
A spokesman for Southern Water had added: ‘Yesterday’s thunder storms brought heavy rain which fell on to parched ground and couldn’t absorb surface run-off, meaning that more rain than usual overwhelmed our network.
‘This led to some overflows – which are used to protect homes, schools, businesses and hospitals from flooding – spilling excess water into the sea in parts of west Sussex, including Seaford.
‘These discharges are heavily diluted and typically 95 per cent of them are rainwater.’
The company has been contacted by Metro.co.uk for additional comment.
An Environment Agency spokesman said earlier: ‘The current risk of surface water flooding reinforces the need for robust action from water companies to reduce discharges from storm overflows. We are monitoring the current situation and supporting local authorities where needed.’
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