Nobody wants to swim or kayak through sewage.
But bathing at popular Fife beaches like Kinghorn and Lower Largo might be a health risk.
These two beaches are designated bathing waters, and have been rated ‘poor’ by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) for 2025.
These two spots are among 89 designated bathing waters in Scotland.
Along with Fisherrow in East Lothian, they’re the only ones rated ‘poor’.
Over the rest of Scotland, 50 bathing waters are classified as ‘excellent’ by SEPA, with 27 ‘good’, and nine ‘sufficient’.
Problem with Fife’s dirty beaches
While SEPA says it’s implementing improvement plans, regular bathers are frustrated.
Amy Ritchie, founder of Largo Swans swimming group, said she is “horrified” at the situation.
She added: “We swim every day and try to find spots as far away from the main sewage flow as we can.
“It isn’t ideal but minimises the risk.”
Amy knows of people who have stopped swimming due to health problems caused by contaminated water.
But she fears a solution will “continue to be ignored” unless decisionmakers have a vested interest in sea swimming, or eco conservation, because it requires funding.
Matt Allan, chair of Largo Area Community Council, has been campaigning for better water quality at the beach since 2019.
“A tank that collects sewage – built at the back of the Temple area in the 1970s – discharges into the sea, opposite the beach at Lower Largo,” he explained.
“It was never designed to comply with the standards required to meet bathing water quality.
“A fleet of short wheelbase tankers empties it every few weeks.
“There’s a filter, so faeces go out macerated, instead of solid.”
Matt kayaks in the sea at Lower Largo.
But he has reduced the frequency of his swims as he’s put off by polluted water.
He’s aware SEPA’s readings are dependent on the tide, and that the agency “feels obliged” to give the worst-case scenario – hence the ‘poor’ rating.
What does Scottish Water propose to do?
Since Lower Largo gained its status as a designated bathing water in 2022, Scottish Water proposed a two-stage plan to upgrade the sewage system.
Stage one was a temporary fix involving chemical dosing at the treatment plant. Stage two is a redesign of their system.
However, Matt says nothing has been done.
“Scottish Water’s corporate affairs manager Scott Fraser, in a meeting with myself and Jenny Gilruth MSP, laid out the plan to have the temporary treatment system in place for the start of the 2025 bathing season, on June 1,” he said.
“If implemented, it was predicted that the bathing water quality would meet a rating of ‘good’.
“But it became apparent by March they’d fail to meet this target and it would be 2026 before any improvements would be implemented.
“In April, SEPA didn’t allow them to go ahead with chemical dosing because the dispersal rate in the bay is considered too slow and it would harm the ecology.”
Matt said Scottish Water’s latest proposal – treating effluent in the tank – is “experimental”. He’s not convinced it will work.
“They should just commit to redesigning the system to meet bathing water standards.”
Fifteen miles down the coast, Kinghorn beach is also rated ‘poor’, with raw sewage spewing into its harbour.
Kinghorn blighted by sewage
“This issue has been bouncing around for 10 years,” said Kinghorn’s former provost Alan McIlravie.
“There are five spots on the beach where they take samples.
“One, in the corner of Kinghorn Harbour, has sewage particulates that fall below the current standard.
“We’ve got a busy beach with swimmers, paddleboarders, a sailing club, an RNLI lifeboat, kayakers, children and holiday clubs.
“They’re going to a beach which technically has poor bathing quality. There seems to be no governmental impetus to get this fixed. But this is about public health.”
Find it – and fix it
Alan is frustrated because he believes finding the source of this raw sewage should be easy – and fixable.
“Sewage is getting into the burn,” he said.
“It’s been narrowed down to one stream – the Lady Burn – which is now in a culvert and ends up in Kinghorn Harbour.
“They should put in a filter on that route to clean out the sewage particulates.”
Claim ‘huge plume’ of brown water is untreated sewage
Alan also flagged up a sewage issue at nearby Pettycur beach.
He says when it rains, a “huge plume” of brown water – which he claims is untreated sewage – flows into the Firth of Forth from Pettycur.
“It sometimes curls round into Kinghorn beach. It’s unacceptable.”
Kinghorn’s waters and shores have long been polluted by human sewage.
Its bathing water has been rated ‘poor’ by SEPA for at least six years, said Alan.
What does Scottish Water say?
A Scottish Water spokesman said: “We are committed to working with the local community, SEPA and Fife Council to invest in the waste water treatment process at Lower Largo.”
He added: “Scottish Water has been working with SEPA for many years to understand the sources contributing to intermittent poor water quality samples at Kinghorn Harbour.
“We have undertaken actions, including resolving misconnections and removing a combined sewer overflow from the network, reducing the number of potential interactions of the sewage network with the environment.
“We remain committed to resolving the issue and have already initiated a new project to survey the Lady Burn and associated network.”
What do SEPA say about dirty beaches in Fife?
Ashley Clunie, Fife, Angus and Dundee unit manager for SEPA, said: “Sewerage infrastructure at Lower Largo was not designed to meet bathing water standards.
“Pollution comes primarily from sewage sources, with the poorest water quality during low and incoming tides.
“A permanent fix will take time to develop and implement, and temporary improvements are being explored for the 2026 bathing season.”
She said pollution at Kinghorn Harbour is linked to sewage sources in the Lady Burn and Kinghorn Burn, both of which are deeply culverted, making it “challenging to identify pollution inputs”.
“Scottish Water have committed to a new programme of work starting this summer to locate and remediate sewage pollution in the Lady Burn, which should improve bathing water quality at Kinghorn Harbour,” she added.
Sick from sewage?
More than 2,000 people in Scotland got sick after using the nation’s waterways for swimming, surfing or paddleboarding in 2024.
The group, Surfers Against Sewage, blamed the rise of sewage leaks into the environment.
Data from Scottish Water showed sewage was discharged into rivers, seas and lochs 24,000 times in 2024.
Other contaminants include farm run-off, dog poo and bird droppings.
Conversation