Tonnes of raw sewage leaking into waterways
TONNES of raw sewage is being poured into our local waterways every single day.
Untreated waste is being discharged into rivers and streams across Wales, sometimes for the equivalent of weeks or even months.
In Llanelli in 2020, raw sewage such as human waste, toilet roll and sanitary products flowed into waterways for the equivalent of 355 days – almost an entire year.
According to Welsh Water some of the worst affected areas last year were in south west Wales, with one combined storm overflow leaking for the equivalent of more than 300 days in Garnswllt. The company has acknowledged that more needs to be done, but warned that this will require “significant additional funding and will take many years to deliver”.
The figures show 33 places in Llanelli where raw sewage has leaked out, and their duration (hours & minutes) and releases per annum of sewage into towns, rivers and the sea.
Raw sewage flowed out into the Llanelli environment for a total of 512,145 minutes last year and there were 1,028 recorded individual incidents.
Natural Resources Wales recorded a total of 105,751 spills in 2020 across Wales, increasing from 73,517 the year before, a rise it attributed partially to more event duration monitors (EDM) which record the number and duration of spills, being installed on the sewerage network.
To see if your area is affected by sewage discharges, you can visit Surfers Against Sewage or Rivers Trust.
According to the 2020 data from Welsh Water, these are some of the worst sites across Wales for discharges from combined sewer overflows.
A spokesperson for Welsh Water said recently in response to the issue of releases of raw sewage from combined storm overflows across Wales: “As a not for profit company so closely linked to the environment, we are very aware of the impact our operations can have on our surroundings and take our environmental performance very seriously. This includes the operation and maintenance of our extensive wastewater network which includes more than 830 wastewater treatment works and over 37,000km of sewers.
“We have invested £8.1 million in improving the monitoring of the CSOS (combined storm overflows) since 2015, and now have spill monitors on over 90% of all of our CSOS – more than any other water company. These monitors record the number and duration of spills and this data is published on our website allowing us to develop investment cases to make further improvements and also to provide real time spill information for key bathing waters to interested bodies, including Surfers Against Sewage.
“As our profits don’t go to shareholders but instead are reinvested to improve our services, over the past 20 years we have invested over £1billion in our entire wastewater network. We know however that there is still further work to be undertaken and that is why we are investing £765 million between now and 2025 on further improvements to our wastewater system. This includes around a £100 million programme to improve priority CSOS. We would add that testament to our investment to date in our wastewater network is that in 2021, Wales secured 45 Blue Flag beaches and marinas – which is significant as Wales only has around 16% of the UK’S coastline but has around a third of the Blue Flags.”
A spokesperson for Natural Resources Wales (NRW) also previously responded to the issue and said: “During AMP7 (a planned programme of management of the network stretching from 2020 to 2025), the data collected via EDM is informing development of a DCWW (Dwr Cymru Welsh Water) programme of targeted investment of over £30m aimed at reducing environmental impacts from assets identified as ‘high’ spillers ( more than 40 annual spills) on inland waters where it is cost beneficial do so.
“NRW is working closely with DCWW on this programme to ensure investment is targeted appropriately. We are also requiring water companies in Wales to target investment at increasing capacity and storage, and to carry out additional monitoring so that we can better understand issues that arise and wherever necessary carry out appropriate regulation.”