Sewage Discharge

In 1989, the then Department of the Environment appointed Southern Water Services Limited as the water and sewage ‘undertaker’. Since then there has been a growth in the number of homes and the amount of discharge per home into the sewage treatment system. Locally there is a problem that stormwater (water from the roofs etc.) discharges into the sewage pipes and not into ditches. The result is that the sewage system is unable to cope with the sewage during periods of heavy rainfall. Raw sewage flows along a main from Ticehurst to a treatment works below Dale Hill golf course that was constructed after Bewl Water was built. This is via the old works at Tinkers Bridge that pumps sewage over the hill to the replacement works. However, at times of heavy rainfall surface water can enter the system and can overflow at Tinkers Bridge works into the Reservoir. In 2023, Southern Water recorded 619.72 hours when sewage with storm water discharged from this transfer station which can overflow before it can pump raw sewerage to the treatment works below Dale Hill Golf Course. The Rivers Trust has a map with the data for the local sewage works.