Cattewater Harbour has put out an alert on social media
16:49, 13 Oct 2026Updated 16:51, 13 Oct 2026
Cattewater(Image: Google )
Yet another sewage pollution incident has been reported in Plymouth, with members of the public urged to not enter the water.
Cattewater Harbour reported a “sewage discharge” in the area at 2pm this afternoon (Tuesday, October 13).
The harbour has warned members of the public who enter the river for “watersports or other recreational use” to wait “at least two tidal cycles” before entering the water again “as water quality may be temporarily affected”.
The harbour also told members of the public to report any sightings or concerns to the harbour office, South West Water (SWW), and the Environment Agency (EA).
At the time of reporting, the EA and SWW maps have no reported incidents in the Cattewater area.
However, SWW has warned people not to enter the water at East Hoe and West Hoe because of pollution from sewage.
At both East and West Hoe, sewage pollution was reported around 1.30pm on October 9 and the water quality remains affected.
The SWW map only highlights the two Hoe locations and Devils Point (Firestone Bay) for people to check the water quality in the city.
Only a matter of days ago, MP Luke Pollard said he was “disgusted” with SWW after swimmers were told not to enter the water at the Hoe for the second time in a week because of sewage.
The Herald reported that the water company was fined almost £8m after a number of pollution-related charges over six years in Devon and Cornwall.
At Hooe Lake Sewage Pumping station near Plymouth, sewage was released on August 28, 2020, and continued for 88 hours over a Bank Holiday weekend until September 1.
Hooe Lake is popular for watersports, as well as being a priority habitat with mudflats, open waters and plant species.
In June this year the firm was fined a record £1.853 million for drinking water failures in Brixham.