Woodbridge and Melton - Storm Overflow Incident on 6th, 7th and 8th July 2025

Deben Climate Centre volunteers conducted their monthly sampling on Monday 7th July after the weekend rains. The samples taken from the tidal section, between Wilford Bridge at Melton and Kyson Point near Woodbridge, were tested for E,coli and the results showed that a major pollution incident was in progress, with E.coli levels between 3 and 30 times the “safe bathing limit”.

Further investigation showed that Anglian Water had recorded a “storm overflow release” which started on Sunday night 6th and ran all the way to Tuesday lunchtime 8th. This 41 hour release is one of the longest recorded incidents of sewage and rainwater discharge in the Deben catchment.

Here is the data from our samplings:

E.coli pollution in colonies per 1ml

Location	E.coli colonies per 1ml
Wilford Bridge	14
Melton Sluice	160
Deben Mills Sluice	300
Lime Kiln Quay	51
Woodbridge Tide Mill	34
Woodbridge Houseboats	71
Deben Yacht Club	130
Kyson Point	28

The Environment Agencies safe bathing guideline is a maximum of 9 colonies per ml.

Environment Agency and Anglian Water were alerted to this major incident as soon as the results had been verified and the data was shared with local swimming and water sports groups. We have asked the Environment Agency to investigate further

The latest information on Wednesday 9th is that this alarming pollution incident is still going on as tests today at the Yacht Club site have shown elevated levels of E.coli still present in the tidal water.

For updates as they happen, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.