A DISCONCERTING report from 2022 unveiled that six of the most polluted areas in the UK, where vast quantities of sewage are discharged into waterways, are situated in Wales, including prominent locations such as Pembrokeshire.

The revelations, made public by the Welsh Liberal Democrats, indicated that from Neath up to the North Wales coast, rivers and waterways had suffered from an excess of 300,000 hours of sewage dumping throughout 2022.

Jane Dodds MS, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, expressed her profound dismay at the findings. “It is truly appalling that, last year, six out of the 10 areas with the highest sewage discharge incidents were in our beloved Wales,” she commented.

“This not only tarnishes our environment and threatens our wildlife but also presents an imminent risk to everyone who cherishes and utilises our rivers.”

Ms Dodds did not mince words in pointing out the shortcomings of the ruling parties, criticising both the Conservatives in Westminster for their inaction regarding river pollution, and the Labour Ministers in Cardiff Bay for not addressing Dŵr Cymru’s role in the environmental crisis and the escalating water bills.

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, the primary water service provider in the region, had its rating reduced to two stars earlier this year due to their inability to manage pollution events effectively. The Liberal Democrats highlighted that the company was implicated in a staggering 89 sewage pollution episodes in 2022 alone.

In a move that raised many an eyebrow, Dŵr Cymru proceeded with an announcement about price hikes last year, resulting in the average water bill in Wales skyrocketing to the second highest across both Wales and England.

A detailed list provided by the Liberal Democrats identified the six Welsh constituencies with the most egregious records for sewage discharge:

• Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
• Dwyfor Meirionnydd
• Preseli Pembrokeshire
• Ogmore
• Ceredigion
• Brecon and Radnorshire

Additionally, it is noteworthy that Carmarthen East and South Pembrokeshire narrowly missed the top ten, securing the 11th spot.

With the ball now squarely in the court of the regulators and Dŵr Cymru, the people of Wales and environmental enthusiasts will be watching closely, hoping for swift rectification measures.

A spokesperson for Dwr Cymru said: “Only 9% of rivers in Wales are classified as having  “poor” or “bad” ecological status and our rivers are significantly better than in England. We are committed to improving the quality of our rivers and are targeting where investment will have the biggest environmental impact.

“We have monitors on over 99.5% of our overflows – more than many other companies – and we are always open with this information by publishing it on our website and report the number of spills to our environmental regulators.  As a country on the western side of the UK, we have some of the highest levels of rainfall and are seeing an increase in severe events linked to climate change. All of this means we have one of the highest numbers of storm overflows of any water company and that the number of times they operate is heavily influenced by these factors.

“Customers bills have been higher for those who live in coastal areas as greater investment has been needed since privatisation to treat wastewater to improve river quality – whereas inland companies didn’t have to make similar investments. Our investment to date in our wastewater system has delivered real improvements and helped ensure 85% of coastal bathing waters in Wales meet excellent water quality standard and Wales has over a quarter of the UK’s Blue Flag beaches while only having 15% of the coastline.

“Earlier this year we published our Manifesto for Rivers in Wales which outlines how we will be investing in our wastewater network, particularly around rivers in Special Areas of Conservation. This includes an additional £140m to be invested by 2025.”

“Our Manifesto can be viewed on our website here.“ “