Water company ‘admits to prolonged sewage spillage’

Welsh Water has allegedly been involved in prolonged, illegal sewage discharges.

The analysis presented by the BBC suggests a facility in Cardigan, West Wales, untreated sewage was purportedly discharged into an ecologically sensitive area near a rare dolphin habitat for over a decade.

The investigation pointed to several wastewater treatment plants across Wales as culprits in these unlawful spills.

According to the BBC’s analysis, these sewage discharges occurred when the treatment plants should have been processing the waste as required by their permits.

The plant in Cardigan reportedly exceeded its permit’s sewage treatment threshold repeatedly.

Welsh Water has indicated that it is addressing the issues identified in the investigation and does not dispute the findings.

The company claims that decisions on improving these treatment plants are influenced by customer bills and the alleged absence of measurable environmental impact from the Cardigan estuary spills.

Ann Weedy, Operations Manager at Natural Resources Wales said: “We are aware of significant compliance issues at the Cardigan wastewater treatment works, and we have used our regulatory powers to enforce the improvements required at the site over the years.

“The issue is now unresolvable without significant investment and upgrading of infrastructure by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.

“But this is the kind of investment that we, and the public expects. The enforcement action we are taking at this site requires Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water to commit to this programme of work during their next investment period and we will work with them to drive the improvements at this site that we all want to see.

“We are currently investigating the severity and frequencies of the permit breaches at the site and this investigation is ongoing.  Any breaches will be dealt with in line with our Enforcement and Sanctions Policy.

“Both regulators, Ofwat and NRW, have been clear that the current use of storm overflow discharges is unacceptable and needs to change. We understand the concern of many across Wales that overflows are operating too frequently, and we are taking steps to ensure our regulation of overflows responds to the needs of the environment and public.”

Energy Live News has approached Welsh Water, Ofwat and Defra for comment.