Welsh Water acknowledges years of illicit sewage spills

 Welsh Water acknowledges years of illicit sewage spills

After providing the water utility with an examination of its own data, the BBC made the disclosure.

In Cardigan, west Wales, one of their factories has the lowest performance.

There, in a protected location close to a unique dolphin habitat, the corporation has been dumping untreated sewage for at least ten years.

The study, which was provided to BBC News by mathematician and former University College London professor Peter Hammond form the advocacy group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP), is uncontested, according to Welsh Water, which claims it is trying to address the issues.

In the majority of the UK, wastewater from toilets, baths, and kitchens is transported in the same pipes as rainfall thanks to a combined sewerage system. Typically, all trash is sent to a sewage treatment facility.

It is permitted to release untreated sewage during periods of heavy rain in order to avoid a facility from being overburdened. However, it is against the law to release any before a plant reaches the overflow level specified in its permit.

Prof. Hammond obtained data on 11 Welsh treatment facilities and discovered that 10 of them had been discharging raw sewage when they ought to have been treating it.

From 2019 to 2022, Cardigan was especially terrible, pouring for more than 200 days per year.

According to the information given to Prof. Hammond, Cardigan seldom ever processed the required volume of sewage.

According to its permission, it must treat 88 liters per second before overflowing, however between the beginning of 2018 and the end of May 2023, it unlawfully released 1,146 days' worth of untreated sewage.

"This is the worst sewage works I've jumped across with respect to of illegal discharges," he said.

Welsh Water acknowledged having between 40 and 50 wastewater treatment facilities operating illegally after being informed of the results. According to the statement, choices on which facilities to upgrade were made with customers' bills in mind, and the Cardigan estuary spills were given low priority since there was "no measurable environmental impact" from them.

Welsh Water refers to Poppit Sands, a designated swimming beach two miles distant, whose water constantly has a "excellent" rating, as the outflow point from the Cardigan treatment plant pours into the Teifi estuary.

Environmental organizations claim that testing at Poppit Sands only occurs from May to September and that the effects of sewage discharges into the River Teifi are not routinely seen. Otters, lamprey, and Atlantic salmon all call it home; it is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). One of the greatest bottlenose dolphin populations in Europe is found in Cardigan Bay, which the Teifi empties into.

"Untreated sewage causes a host of problems on our rivers," said Gail Davies-Walsh of the organization fighting for clean rivers, Afonydd Cymru.

"High nitrogen levels from sewage cause algae blooms that cause the oxygen in our rivers to decrease. And it's obvious that this has an effect on other species as well as our fish stocks.

Why is sewage dumped into the sea and rivers?

Natural Resources Wales, the regulatory body, informed the BBC that it had been aware of the problems at Cardigan for eight years and had sent out enforcement notifications but not penalties. It claims to be examining data from 101 Welsh Water-operated treatment facilities that have been overflowing before they reach their regulatory capacity.

Welsh Water, a not-for-profit organization, said in a follow-up email that NRW's data were "inaccurate," that it was not under "formal investigation," and that it stood by its estimate that 45 treatment facilities were now operating in violation of licenses.

The difficulties in Cardigan started in 2004 with the installation of a wastewater treatment system by Welsh Water that filters sewage over a membrane. Not all sewage treatment facilities operate that way.

Due to Cardigan's outdated and faulty sewage system, during spring tides seawater enters the pipes and treatment facility.

Bacteria release an enzyme that inhibits the membrane as a result of the saltwater. As a result, the facility often spills untreated sewage and fails to treat the proper volume of sewage.

Steve Wilson, managing director of Welsh Water's wastewater services, stated, "We're not proud of this at all. "It's a really awkward situation to be in, but not for lack of effort. We've been working to resolve this.

These adjustments were unsuccessful. A new Cardigan treatment facility, estimated to cost £20 million, is scheduled to start construction in 2025.

There are now concerns raised by Gail Davies-Walsh of Afonydd Cymru for both the water provider and the regulator, Natural Resources Wales, which is in charge of enforcing licenses and, if required, levying fines.

"Fundamentally this site [Cardigan] continues to be discharging raw sewage for potentially 10 years and no action has been taken," she claims.

Welsh streams received sewage for 600,000 hours

Water users will pay more because of the sewage leak

The BBC was given a chronology of NRW's replies, which shows many enforcement notifications but no criminal charges or financial penalties. No charges for this kind of unlawful sewage leaks have been brought by the NRW elsewhere in Wales in the previous five years.

Huwel Manley, NRW's chief of operations for south west Wales, stated: "We have punished Welsh Water on a number of occasions for contamination incidents, simply not for low flow spills as is the case here. "But we are working with trying to establish national guidance in addition to England so that we have a more uniform approach as to how and when we take that judicial route."

As part of what they claim is their greatest criminal investigation into possibly unlawful spills, regulators in England are also examining flow rates through treatment facilities.