A swimming championship event being held in a Perthshire village has had to end early after untreated raw sewage was found in the water – the day after it started.
SwimWild was hosting the Scottish Winter Swimming Championships at Taymouth Marina in Kenmore.
It started on Friday and was to run until Sunday, with people travelling around the world to take part in individual and relay events on Loch Tay.
While day one went off without a hitch, the event drew to an early close on Saturday afternoon after raw sewage from Taymouth Marina’s private system was found in the competition water.
SwimWild says on its website that no swimmers were in the loch at the time. There has been no confirmation of any illnesses.
Taymouth Marina said the number of visitors on site was beyond their expectations and resulted in a mechanical fault.
It says the situation has been rectified.
The resort has also been criticised for saying water activities can resume at the loch less than 24 hours later.
Sepa says it is monitoring the situation and that work was done on Saturday to prevent more sewage entering the loch.
‘Surge in the system’ to blame says Taymouth
In a statement online on Saturday evening, Darren Scott, general manager at Taymouth Marina, said: “After a glorious start to the Scottish Winter Swimming Championships event, we are extremely disappointed to report that there has been an unfortunate situation with a short sewage discharge which meant the remainder of the event has been cancelled by the organisers as a precaution.
“This was a one-off unfortunate situation, which occurred due to the vast number of visitors on site, (beyond expectation) and a surge in the system.
“This has now been rectified and environmental bodies like SEPA have been notified and are happy with actions taken.
“There is no impact on the loch and the advice is that water activities will be okay again tomorrow for people from our westerly access and surrounding areas, as always, we also ask people to make their own judgements on swimming.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said: “Sepa was notified on Saturday by Taymouth Marina about sewage from a private sewage system owned by Taymouth Marina entering Loch Tay.
“The venue confirmed they are taking remedial action and an operator was on site yesterday to prevent further sewage entering the loch. The operator is back out at site today to continue remedial and clean-up work. No further sewage has entered the loch.
“SEPA will monitor the situation to confirm there is no adverse impact on the environment.
“We would encourage members of the public to report any potential pollution incidents via our 24-hour online form.
“It is not for SEPA to provide advice on swimming. This is a decision for individuals, who do so at their own risk.”
SwimWild has been contacted by The Courier for comment.
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