Watch as kayak teacher encounters stinky stream running into Derbyshire river - but Severn Trent denies fault for sewage spill

Kayak instructor Rick Needham was leading a class along the river on Wednesday, April 5, when he caught wind of a problem around the Bakewell Road/Dimple Road combined sewer overflow (CSO) running into the Derwent just behind Twiggs DIY store.

Rick said: “The smell was horrendous from 100 metres upstream. As we got closer, I could see it was sewage, 100 per cent, I have no doubt about it. I was racking my brains about where it could have come from. We could still smell it 100 metres downstream.

“The water is usually quite discoloured coming out of that outflow, but there’d be nothing to suggest sewage. It’s not uncommon for us to see sewage going into the river, but not at that location. I’ve never seen it or smelled it there before.”According to annual data released in March by the Environment Agency, monitoring equipment at the Dimple Road CSO recorded sewage discharge lasting a total of 3.3 hours over at least 11 separate spills across the whole of last year – although a sensor failure, fixed in February 2023, meant the equipment was only operational for 89 per cent of the time.

That is relatively minor compared to overflows recorded elsewhere on the Derwent, but will still be of concern to people on and around the river, and especially users of the designated canoe and kayak course just downstream.

After recording video of the incident to pass on to relevant authorities, Rick – a committee member at Matlock Canoe Club – also shared it in online neighbourhood forums to warn other river users.

He said: “I run another coaching session for beginners on Wednesday nights and a lot of them cancelled after I put a message out about what I’d seen, and bear in mind that our groups include kids.

“It’s a problem for our business, it’s really not good for us. It’s a hurdle to get over for now but it really needs sorting long term.”

On this occasion, however, Severn Trent Water, which manages the local sewage system, says it was not the source of the spill.

Investigating officers, who visited the site on Friday, April 5, are said to have reported that whatever went into the river did not match the expected appearance of sewage they would usually encounter.

They also said monitoring equipment on the overflow had not activated as it automatically would if the discharge came from the sewage system

Paul Reeves, catchment lead in the waste team, said: “While we’re not currently certain about the source of this discharge, it’s not connected to our sewage operations or from any nearby works.

“Following an initial investigation, we believe that this has come from a third party discharging into the surface water sewer.”

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency added: “This incident has been reported to us and we are working with Severn Trent Water to locate the source of the discharge.

“If local residents have environmental concerns they should contact our 24/7 hotline on 0800 807060.”

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