River Lim Action Group raises concerns to South West Water

The discharge was seen running down Tappers Knap, Spring Head Road, and Mill Lane in the west Dorset village.

Campaigners from the River Lim Action Group said they'd received 'a number of reports' about sewage problems including 'sewage running down the road and drain flushing direct into the river'.

But utility firm South West Water said in a statement that the sewage was the result of drains blocked by people flushing wet wipes and did not flow into the river. 

The water supply firm said the the blockage causing the sewage was caused by wet wipes in the pipe and the sewer was also damaged. 

A spokesperson said: “We have investigated our network in Tappers Knapp, Uplyme, and found damage to the sewer and a blockage of wet wipes in the pipe.

“We have cleared the blockage to restore flows in the sewer and carried out a thorough clean-up but found no signs of any flows reaching the watercourse.

"We are regularly checking the pipe to make sure there are no more spills while we look to fix the pipe permanently.”

According to South West Water, around 93 per cent of all sewer blockages are caused by wet wipes being flushed down the toilet, costing £100m a year to clear up in the UK. 

Drain at the top of Tappers Knapp that overflowed following heavy rain (Image: River Lim Action Group)

Members of the River Lim Action Group said they saw 'a large volume of raw sewage and toilet paper' flow from the drain cover down from the top of Tappers Knapp to Spring Head Road and enter the River Lim via the bridge by Mill Lane.

Discharge running down Springhead Road (Image: River Lim Action Group)

Locals say there have also been repeated reports of sewage smells at the bottom of nearby Croggs Lane.

Despite South West Water stating 'no signs of any flows reached the watercourse', a spokesman for the River Lim Action Group claimed it did reach the River Lim. 

Discharge of sewage into the River Lim from the bridge by Mill Lane (Image: River Lim Action Group)

They said: “We've had a number of reports about sewage problems including sewage running down the road and drain flushing direct into the river when  South West Water's contractors were doing work there.

"More work is planned for September so people are keen to ensure the contractors for SWW try to avoid pollution next time." 

The River Lim was previously declared as ‘ecologically dead’ after the amount of human waste overflowing into it tripled in under a year back in 2023. It had ‘shocking’ levels of E.coli.

In December last year, residents raised concerns that the river turned yellow following a disturbance of clay and sediment due to works replacing pipes in Uplyme.