Loch Leven Sea Savers

Photo credit: Loch Leven Sea Savers

Email to learn more: lochlevenseasavers@gmail.com

Loch Leven Sea Savers is a community citizen-science group of all ages, established to address long-standing concerns about water quality in the loch, the first task being sewage discharge.

For three years, the group measured and monitored sewage pollution in the loch and its surrounding rivers, with the support of Surfers Against Sewage. Although the group repeatedly witnessed at least three Scottish Water overflow pipes dumping sewage in an unregulated manner, SEPA refused to investigate.

Loch Leven Sea Savers decided to push for designation of the area as a Bathing Water, where SEPA would have a statutory duty of regularly monitoring the water quality and providing public information during the bathing season.

In March 2026, the campaign was successful in winning the support of the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy who directly granted the designation as a Bathing Water – the first time any MSP has intervened in this way.

Loch Leven Sea Savers are looking forward to the official start of the bathing season on 01 June 2026 and will continue to build on this progress and push for action regarding the sewage pollution into their loch and rivers. If helpful, they would be happy to share the steps they took, including their application for bathing water status (which had 58 responses showing 98.3% support) and the response from the Cabinet Secretary.