DOZENS of people gathered at Riverside Park on Saturday to o-poo-se sewage releases in the River Itchen.
Protesters wearing poop costumes gathered opposite Portswood Waste Centre to call on Southern Water to stop discharging sewage in the river.
The company is allowed to do so during storms and times of increased rainfall when the water infrastructure wouldn't be able to cope.
However, protestors from Southampton National Park City claim this happens more often than it's necessary.
One of the organisers, Gavin Millar, accused the firm of using the river "as a dump for sewage".
READ MORE: Foul sewage often released into River Itchen, campaigners warn
The 68-year-old said: “[The River Itchen] has so much to offer as an open space in Southampton in terms of recreation, wellbeing, and wildlife.
“Southern Water are increasingly using the river as a dump for sewage, now they say it’s necessary for them to discharge raw sewage into the river when the system is overloaded with rainfall.
“But it’s very apparent that sewage is being discharged at lots of other times of the year not just in those times of heavy rainfall.”
Mr Millar added: “We want them to release the information as to when the sewage is going to be discharged so that residents are aware and make a decision as to whether they want to go into the water, whether it’s for swimming or any type of other activity.”
In July last year, Southern Water was fined £90 million for thousands of illegal sewage discharges in rivers and coastal waters in Kent, Hampshire and Sussex.
And last month, it was order to pay out almost £30 million to its customers for failing to meet its water treatment and pollution targets.
READ MORE: Southern Water to give customers almost £30 million due to poor performance
The firm now says it is investing £2 billion between 2020 and 2025 to improve its performance.
Labour councillor for Bitterne Park, Tony Bunday, also attended the demonstration.
He said: “I’ve lived here for 40 years and I’m very passionate about this, and while I was on the doorstep earlier in the year one of the things that kept on coming up was the quality of the water of the river.
“The fact sewage was being discharged and the smell of that and as a councillor, I’ve been trying to challenge that and make a difference for the community here.”
Cllr Bunday also called for the Government to make sure water companies are held to high standards of water quality.
READ MORE: Southern Water denies claims of diesel spillage in River Test
Toby Willison, Director of Quality and Environment at Southern Water, said: "We understand the concerns of those protesting in Southampton.
"We are investing £2bn between 2020 and 2025 to improve our performance, with most investment going into protecting our environment.
"In Southampton, we are investing nearly £13m to help us store stormwater next to our Woolston Wastewater Treatment site.
"This builds on a £100m improvement project at Woolston, completed in 2020, and a £5.5m upgrade to our nearby Portswood Waste Water Treatment site.
"These are all part of our plans to improve water quality in this area."
Mr Willison added that protecting the environment is a key priority for the firm and that it is leading the water industry to reduce the need for sewage releases.
A meeting of the River Itchen Inquiry will be held at the Civic Centre on November 17.
It will be attended by community and campaign groups as well as Southern Water.
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