SAS Day of Action: May 16, 2026

Getting wet has become a game of Russian roulette on our fair isles. It is no longer a question of if you get sick but when. Even a water rating of “excellent” is no guarantee that you’re not sharing your dip with raw sewage - official tests of 46 of Scotland’s 89 designated bathing spots had unsafe levels of E. coli and intestinal enterococci.

In England and Wales alone, there were over 386,466 reported sewage spills in 2025, lasting over 2,677,545 hours. Water companies were also responsible for 14,700 sewage discharges on dry days, incidents that are often illegal because they’re unrelated to storm overflow events.

This is our best opportunity yet, with newly elected councils wanting to make a good impression and the Government about to bring in a new Water Bill, to demand that water companies put clean water before profits and fix our broken water system. In the words of SAS, let’s “show the Government, the regulators and the water companies that we will not stand for another summer of swimming in sh*t.”

There are 57 paddle outs happening across the UK – check out this interactive map for one near you. "Whether you're a surfer, swimmer, cold-dipper or water-bill payer, this is our chance to stand up to the polluters, paddle out, and demand that the Government’s reforms bring an end to sewage pollution,” says Giles Bristow, Surfers Against Sewage Chief Executive.

Let’s all Turn up, paddle out and join the fight.