Pressure Groups Case Study – Surfers Against Sewage

One of the most successful pressure groups over the past year has been Surfers Against Sewage. Though the group have been active for 30 years it has only been in the last 12 months that they have come to public prominence. This is following an alarming increase in the amount of sewage that water companies are dumping into rivers and oceans around the UK. According to the BBC, in 2022, raw sewage was pumped into rivers and seas for 1.75 million hours – an average of 825 times per day. In 2021, the figure was 19% higher!

Against this backdrop, Surfers Against Sewage’s campaigns have reached a wider and now more receptive audience. Perhaps their most effective campaigning strategy is as providers of information to the public. They publish a frequently updated map that shows the water quality across the UK’s beaches and rivers and which informs the public of whether they might dare to risk entering the waters.

Alongside this they have used the media effectively to draw attention to the problems and solutions as they see them.

Surfers Against Sewage provide an interesting counter point to other environmental pressure groups such as extinction rebellion whose direct action tactics have often drawn negative headlines and could be seen as counter productive towards achieving their aims. Surfers Against Sewage have used the media more effectively and achieved a level of public support for their campaigns that has subsequently seen the government change legislation so that water companies can now be hit with unlimited fines if they continue to pollute.