More than 10 million litres of sewage was spilled into Fife’s waterways last year with 714 reported incidents. 

However, Fife’s Lib-Dem group dredged up data from Scottish Water’s “non-reported” overflow data set to discover there were an additional 127 incidents of “non-reported” sewage dumping across the Kingdom last year.

This includes 19 occasions of 'combined sewer overflows' that poured wastewater into the Firth of Forth from Kirkcaldy for more than 131 hours last year.

In Springfield, there were 108 incidents that dumped wastewater into the River Eden for 285 hours throughout 2023.

“I obviously have some serious concerns regarding this - we have some incredible coastline and rivers in Fife and it is extremely disappointing that this continues,” Councillor James Calder, Fife’s Lib-Dem group leader, said.

“We raised this at Fife Council last year too as a motion to push Scottish Water into action and it feels as though we are not seeing any improvement. Residents of Fife should be able to enjoy our water without worrying about wading through sewage.”

Scottish Water said they have invested £2.7 billion in the drainage system over the past 10 years and have committed a further £500 million on their Improving Urban Water Route Map.

That scheme includes the installation of 1,000 new monitors and other improvements by the end of 2024, which the company said they are on track to deliver.

“Overflows are designed specifically to divert storm water during extreme weather so that it doesn’t overwhelm the network and flood people’s homes and businesses,” a spokesperson for Scottish Water said.

“When they occur, it is because the sewer network is doing what it is designed to do and less than one per cent of the waste water comes from toilets so is incredibly dilute.”

“Scottish Water is investing record levels on improving its infrastructure – £500 million in addition to the £2 billion spent in the last decade – to help meet increased demand and address the impact of climate change.”

The leader of Fife Council, David Ross, noted that it was “disappointing” and “concerning” to see the levels of sewage dumping in Fife.

However, he also acknowledged that it’s a complicated issue.

“This is something we continue to raise with Scottish Water, but we also recognise the challenges caused by increased rainfall and climate change,” Cllr Ross said.

“We continue to work with all our partners at local and national level to do what the council can, to help reduce pollution incidents.

"However, against this challenging backdrop, working with SEPA, Scottish Water and our communities in 2023, Fife still achieved 10 beaches with excellent and three with good water quality ratings.”

Former SNP group leader David Alexander emphasised that SEPA assessed 87 per cent of Scottish water bodies as having high or good water quality.

“Organisations like Scottish Water and SEPA do an excellent job and are getting better every year,” he said.

“SEPA six years ago assessed 82 per cent of water bodies in Scotland as having high or good water quality. Now 87 per cent is assessed that way which means our rivers and coastal waters are overall in good ecological condition.”

He added: “The issues we have faced, as everyone will know, and over a relatively short term, is the huge increase in rain that has created unprecedented flooding throughout the country due to the climate crisis and has created over-flow issues.”