Beautiful Welsh beach where the sea is full of sewage

On a windy but clear morning on Ogmore-by-Sea in the Vale of Glamorgan, a few families, dog walkers and campers make their way down to the beach. With its expansive gold sands, rock pools and views of nearby Porthcawl and Merthyr Mawr, it's easy to see why this is one of the most popular beaches in this corner of south Wales.

It's breathtakingly beautiful, and yet, it is one of the two worst beaches in Wales for water quality where people are advised not to swim. In 2023, Ogmore-by-Sea beach in St Brides Major and Watch Tower Bay over in Barry, which were both designated bathing areas, were sampled by Natural Resources Wales (NRW). They were the only two out of 109 areas in Wales that received a rating of poor after elevated levels of bacteria were found.

The situation has only got worse. In recent weeks, the water quality at Ogmore by Sea was classified as "abnormal" by NRW because of high bacterial levels, reports WalesOnline. The source of this pollution has not been confirmed. Welsh Water has cast doubt on fears of a leak from the Penybont treatment works.

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But there are also other potential sources of the pollution. Four of the most prolific sewage outflows in Wales, which allow everything we flush down our toilets out into the river network when it rains heavily, all ultimately flow into the River Ogmore and reach the the sea just by the beautiful beach.

An outflow on the River Llynfi in Maesteg, two outflows onto the River Garw (which we wrote about here when they were the most prolific in Wales) near Bryngarw, and one at Ewenny all pour into the river. In total they poured sewage into the river for 17,551 hours last year). And these are only the big ones, there are scores of smaller outflows on on the Ogmore and its tributaries.

As concerns were raised for swimmers' safety, Vale of Glamorgan council advised people not to swim at either sites. The type of bacteria that was detected came predominantly from sewage and agriculture, as well as other sources. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.

As you walk from the car park to the beach, signs warning swimmers to "stay away from the sea" have been printed out on laminated A4 posters - something of which that dad-of-three Chris Budding did not see before he headed into the water. Originally from Gloucestershire, Chris and his family have come here for the day.

"We just got recommended to this beach by a family friend,” he explains. "They said that this was a really nice place to come to and this is our first time here. We put our feet in the sea, which was nothing too crazy.

"We didn’t notice it was like that, but it does seem worrying. Nothing stood out [signage], we got out of the car, paid, went to the toilets, then went down here."

Chris and his family aren't the only ones to venture out to the sea that day. Despite a breezy forecast, some have seemingly gone further into the sea in their swimming gear. Upon hearing the recent news about Ogmore-by-Sea beach poor ratings, Chris said: "It’s not ideal, it makes you want to go for a good wash. It’s so easy to touch the water and then touch your face. It’s a beautiful, lovely location - it’s a shame that a place like this is affected by it. The last thing you want to do is go to a beach like this and then become ill after a family day out."

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Chris isn't the only one to voice his concerns about people's safety. At the beginning of June, Mark Ryan, the chairman of the Ogmore Angling Association which has more than 300 members who regularly use the waters for fishing, said that they were concerned about the children that went to the beach to swim as well as members from the angling association who used the waters for leisure purposes.

Mr Ryan had described it as a "sad state of repair" and said that people wanted "to see something done". Mat Palkowski usually uses Ogmore-by-Sea beach to go fishing with his friends, but admits the recent news has made him "reluctant" to go again.

On a Saturday morning, Mat and his partner Beth from nearby Llanharan have decided to take their dog Charlie on a walk on the beach. The couple agree that the beach is a special place for them and many more that live close by.

"We do come here quite regularly," Beth says. "It’s nice, it’s local, it’s refreshing, the sun is shining. It’s just a nice kickstart to your day. Between here and Porthcawl, we come here around once a month. We’re quite lucky in this corner of south Wales. It’s just nice to come here in the morning with the dog."

And even though she was aware about the recent news about the beach, Beth can see why so many are enticed by its shores. "In the last five years, this beach looks like it has become cleaner," she said. "We were just saying this morning how blue and clear the sea looked. So it's not very pleasant to hear there might be sewage here."

She added: "It’s such a nice stretch of beach, the sand part is always clean but you do worry with the sea and how clean that is. I wouldn’t bathe in it, I haven’t bathed in it for years - I used to bring my children here when they were younger. It’s cold for a start but also it just doesn’t look clean. I think we’ll continue to come here for walks, it hasn’t put us off coming here but I just wouldn’t want to bathe in it."

Despite the well publicised sewage outflows on the river Ogmore, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water says it hasn't conclusively identified the cause of the high bacterial levels at Ogmore-by-Sea. After the finding of abnormal bacterial levels was made public, it said "no leaks or significant faults have been found" and further investigations were said to be inconclusive.

An update on the Natural Resources Wales website still describes the water in the area as having "potential contamination by sewage" with signs placed on the beach to notify people of pollution in the river. And it has led to a number of concerns from residents who live nearby as they say a solution has to be found in order to safeguard both themselves and the local environment. You can read more about these concerns here.

Recently, there has been a wider concern on river and sea pollution in the UK. The latest data found that Dwr Cymru Welsh Water released sewage into rivers, lakes and the sea around Wales for more than 916,000 hours in 2023. The water company recorded 105,943 spills in 2023 - 93% of which were ranked as "significant".

Meanwhile, across the border, sewage spills into England's rivers and seas by water companies had more than doubled in 2023. According to Environment Agency, there were 3.6 million hours of spills compared to 1.75 million hours in 2022.

According to Ella MacKrill from Bristol, who has come to Ogmore-by-Sea beach with her family for the day, it's a "massive shame". She said: "We go swimming and we camp a lot. We will camp near beaches or rivers or lakes, so that we can go swimming there as well.

Ella MacKrill goes swimming with her family a lot (Image: Mark Lewis)

"It can look beautiful, but you never know if it's clean. It makes you feel really sad and you feel let down. Swimming in places like this feels like it's the last thing you can do that is really glorious and free. So to hear about the poor rating, is a massive shame".

Annabel and Dan Addams from Worcestershire agree. For the couple and their little dog Arlo, the south east Wales coastline is where they'll find their nearest beaches. "We love it here," Annabel said. "It’s quiet here and the dog can come here throughout the year. We come here in the summer with the kids as well. For the last three years, we’ve been coming here, and in the summer the kids come with us as well. There’s plenty of beach but it doesn’t feel commercial like other places."

In regards to the recent news about the water quality of the sea, Dan said: “I thought this place used to be a really good one, it used to be really clean. It’s a shame because obviously someone has messed up somewhere. From what I’ve read, they still don’t know why.”

Annabel and Dan Addams from Worcestershire come to Ogmore-by-Sea beach in the summer with their children (Image: Mark Lewis)

He added: "You’d think they would find a better way of disposing rubbish, it’s such a beautiful area and then this is happening. It just feels like laziness, cost-cutting. And it makes you wonder how long this has been going on?"

Both NRW and Welsh Water are continuing their investigation into the pollution incident. In a recent statement, a spokesperson for Welsh Water said: "Following over 1,200 work hours of detailed investigations, analysis, trial holes, CCTV inspections, and 3D scanning of pipes and tanks, no leaks or significant faults have been found at the site and associated assets and drainage connected to the site.

"Furthermore, extensive dye testing – where dye is put into the wastewater to trace it through the process and to pinpoint leaks – has not identified any leaks within the pipework or tanks on site or along the sewer network connected to the site. Over 1,000 pots of dye have been used over the course of our investigation but it should be noted that this dye does not have any impact on the environment.

"Dye has been observed leaving the discharge point from the works – i.e. where treated wastewater is discharged via an outfall to river Ogmore – and a faint discolouration was observed reaching the channel where the pollution incident was initially reported. This seems to be due to the incoming tide driving river water up into the channel and thus carrying over the dye and potentially silt from the riverbed. The wastewater treatment works is operating and discharging as normal and compliant with its permits.

Welsh Water has said that no leaks or significant faults have been found at the beach but they continue with their investigation (Image: Mark Lewis)

"Our initial identification of a potential leak on site was later established to be a ground water pipe unrelated to our treatment works or sewer network. No further evidence of a leak has been identified.

"Our examination of the "sludge" in the channel where the pollution incident was reported is not consistent with the microbiology of our biological process at the wastewater treatment plant. Therefore, we do not have evidence to pinpoint this material back to our treatment plant. Since we cannot find a route from our assets into the channel, the source of the pollution and our investigations remain inconclusive and we will continue to work with Natural Resources Wales."

Fiona Hourahine, operations manager for Natural Resources Wales added: "We’re continuing our investigation of the pollution incident on the River Ogmore that could be impacting water quality at the Ogmore-by-Sea designated bathing water.

"Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s investigations at the Penybont wastewater treatment works have been inconclusive and the source of the pollution has not been identified. Our officers have been assessing the environmental impact by taking regular water samples from the river and bathing water.

"We are waiting for the results from samples taken last week. If these show no issue with water quality, we will likely remove the abnormal situation at the Ogmore-by-Sea bathing water. We will continue working with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water to try and identify what happened and monitor the area for further pollution."