Sunderland Bridge STW
Storm overflow run by Northumbrian Water, discharging into River Wear.
"Not discharging" means the company's monitor reports no discharge right now — not that the water is clean. The feed publishes status only; no discharge volume is measured.
Year by year
The Environment Agency's official annual returns, counted the EA's way (12/24-hour spills). 2026 is our own running count, the same way, from the live feed: our own log of it begins on 28 February, and the discharges before that are Top of the Poops' record of the same feed. The official figure is published next spring.
A spill is the EA's 12/24-hour count: the first 12 hours of a discharge count as one, each further 24 hours with discharge as one more. "Monitor" is the share of that year the monitor was working, so a 0 beside a working monitor is a real zero; "no data" means the monitor produced no usable data that year — not zero. Years before 2024 are matched to this site by name and location, because the EA's site IDs changed that year; a monitor figure beside one of them means the outlet's permit confirms the match.
Other outlets here
Northumbrian Water runs 2 other overflows within 300 m that also discharge into River Wear. They share the sewer and the storm, so one outlet's figures are only part of what reaches the water.
This overflow: 53 spills in 2024. Distances are between the published outlet points.
Downstream of this overflow
The next gauge downstream that the river map places is Sunderland Bridge (River Wear), 210 m along the river.
Water-sampling points downstream
The nearest Environment Agency sampling points the river map places below Sunderland Bridge. Points between this overflow and that gauge cannot be put in order with it on the map, so they are not listed.
- Wear at Shincliffe Bridge
7.3 km along the river, below Sunderland Bridge · Last sampled 2 Oct 2026 · 24 days ago - Wear upstream of Barkers Haugh sewage treatment works
12 km along the river · Last sampled 10 Dec 2021, before the imported period - Wear downstream of Barkers Haugh sewage treatment works
13 km along the river · Last sampled 17 Mar 2006, before the imported period
A sample is dated: it is not the river now, and its results are on its own page. A sample taken after a discharge does not show that the discharge caused what was measured. Samples: Environment Agency Water Quality Archive, © Environment Agency and/or database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
A river gauge measures the level of the river; it does not measure this overflow's discharge, and a spill does not by itself explain a change there. Traced on OS Open Rivers (edition 2026-04), which leaves out many small channels.
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights 2026.
What the 2024 return says
From Northumbrian Water's annual return to the Environment Agency for this overflow.
"High spill threshold not met" means this overflow did not spill often enough to trigger the EA's formal high-spill review for that year. It is not a statement that the spills were harmless.
Discharges we have recorded
16 discharge periods since 1 Jan 2024. 16 of them come from Northumbrian Water's own event-duration-monitoring records (published on Stream, Jan 2024 – Mar 2024); the live feed adds anything after that. The official annual count is the figure to quote.
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1 h 47 min
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25 min
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3 h 21 min
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1 h 52 min
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4 h 33 min
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3 h 21 min
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10 d 11 h
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22 h 4 min
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4 h 33 min
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8 h 27 min
Show 6 earlier
| Started | Ended | Discharge time |
|---|---|---|
| 10 d 15 h | ||
| 2 d 12 h | ||
| 1 d 12 h | ||
| 18 h 41 min | ||
| 8 h 56 min | ||
| 16 d 7 h |
The year figures above use the EA's 12/24-hour counting method, so they are comparable with the official figures; the monitor log's 57 raw blocks were merged into 16 continuous discharge periods (gaps under 15 min joined).
Rain nearby last 30 days
Nearest live rain gauge: Rainfall gauge nr Esh Winning, 7.8 km away. Brown shading = when this overflow was discharging; ▼ = a discharge start.
Overflow shading is a timing match, not proof of cause — heavy rain and spills share a trigger. Times come from the water company’s event-duration monitor (site status only; no discharge volume is published).
Where it is
Tell me when this overflow discharges
One message when the company's monitor reports a new discharge here. At most one every 6 hours.
Setting this alert needs JavaScript. The alerts you already have are on your alerts page.
The alert repeats the monitor's status: whether the overflow is discharging, not how much or why. It can only tell you about a discharge that starts after you turn it on.
Concerned about this overflow?
Report pollution you can see or smell to the regulator straight away; the company handles complaints about the overflow itself.
Write to the MP
The Environment Agency's return places this overflow in the Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor constituency. An MP can ask the company and the regulator questions on a constituent's behalf. These words carry the official figures; change them as you like.
The link opens Parliament's own "Find your MP", which gives the MP's name and how to write to them. FloodRadar sends nothing and keeps nothing you write. Check the constituency against your own address: an MP acts only for people who live in it.
Live status: © Northumbrian Water storm overflow activity data, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Annual spill figures: Environment Agency Event Duration Monitoring return, © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right, Open Government Licence (OGL) v3.0. Storm-overflow spill events: © the respective water company, published on Stream (data.streamwaterdata.co.uk) under CC BY 4.0. Discharges marked "via Top of the Poops", and this year's figures before 28 February, come from Top of the Poops' record of the same company feed, used under CC BY-SA 4.0: the feed's own start and end times as its pages print them, not their derived hours. Times are shown in UK local time. FloodRadar republishes the monitor's status and the EA's figures; it does not measure discharges itself. Constituency and council area from the EA's return: contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.