Raw sewage 'equivalent to 17 tankers a day' pumped into Welsh river needlessly for 18 months

Jonathon Hill
·6-min read
-Credit: (Image: PA)
-Credit: (Image: PA)


Campaigners have revealed the scale of untreated sewage which was being spilled into a river in Wales needlessly for 18 months. The Cleddau Project, made up of voluntary citizen scientists, uncovered how Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru) pumped 56,000 cubic metres of untreated wastewater into the Western Cleddau at Picton in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, between July 2022 and February 2024 - the equivalent of 17 tanker loads a day, when they didn’t actually need to.

Campaigners for the Cleddau Project said Welsh Water data showed the pumping station at Picton was running at 80% capacity for those 18 months. Most of the UK has a combined sewerage system meaning rainwater and wastewater from homes is carried in the same pipes.

Usually waste should be carried to sewage treatment works where the wastewater is then dissolved and what Welsh Water describes as a “final effluent” is released into the river. But during periods of untypically high rainfall, to prevent a treatment plant becoming overwhelmed causing flooding, water companies like Welsh Water are allowed to discharge untreated sewage through the combined sewer overflows (CSOs) - 115,525 of which are in Wales.

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The Cleddau River in Pembrokeshire -Credit:John Myers
The Cleddau River in Pembrokeshire -Credit:John Myers

But campaigners for the Cleddau Project say Welsh Water’s own figures show the system was nowhere near overwhelmed. They said that wastewater should have been going to a nearby Merlin’s Bridge sewage treatment plant, but was instead being pumped into the river from the CSO at Picton. You can get more story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.

Campaigners say to rub salt into the wound faeces, toilet tissue and wet wipes were pumped directly into the watercourse unnecessarily in the area in question which is a special conservation area. Explaining how they uncovered the issue, they said after growing concerned by the amount of times the overflow at Picton was spilling into the Western Cleddau, they filed environmental information requests with Welsh Water in order to get pump performance data dating back to July 2022.

Analysis of the data revealed the pumps at Picton significantly underperformed for at least 18 months, resulting in untreated sewage that should have been transported to the sewage treatment plant being directly discharged into the Cleddau. Welsh Water, responsible for cleaning wastewater and operating CSOs in Wales’ rivers, has since apologised and said its pumping station at Picton had been upgraded and spills cut.

Volunteers claim Welsh Water did not follow pumping rules set out by the regulator Natural Resources Wales (NRW), and NRW did not do enough to monitor the situation or enforce its own rules. Cleddau campaigners said: “Despite continuous monitoring and pollution reports submitted by the Cleddau Project, including presence of wet wipes, sanitary products and other waste - clear breaches of Welsh Water’s permit - NRW’s enforcement response was limited.

“NRW did not take substantive action until a compliance visit in June 2023. Even then corrective measures were delayed until March 2024 when the pumps were finally replaced. NRW’s decision to classify the incident as ‘minor’ has been challenged by TCP (the Cleddau Project), which argues that the sustained discharge of such a substantial volume of untreated sewage into a special area of conservation river signals systemic failures within both organisations.”

Citizen scientists and volunteers for the Cleddau Project at last week's March for Water in London -Credit:The Cleddau Project
Citizen scientists and volunteers for the Cleddau Project at last week's March for Water in London -Credit:The Cleddau Project

Ric Cooper of the Cleddau Project said: “Our investigation highlights the urgent need for a major overhaul in NRW’s regulatory practices. Timely response to public reports, swift action on sensor data, and immediate repair of faulty equipment could have prevented much of this pollution.

“Welsh Water and NRW have failed to implement these basic measures. The Cleddau is suffering, and we need a decisive shift to ensure this doesn’t happen again. The public expects better from its regulators and water companies, and it’s time for real change.”

A spokesperson for Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water) said: "We know our performance has fallen short of expectations on this occasion and for that we apologise. We have been working with the Cleddau Project, a citizen science group we help to fund, as well as share data and information with as part of our commitment to being transparent about our performance.

“Some of our assets need flow monitors and we are working to get installations complete by deadlines stated by our regulators. For Picton SPS, a flow monitor needed to be installed by 2025. We were able to install a monitor several years before this deadline, which gave us insight into its performance earlier than our regulators required.

“We were able to assess its flow, identifying the cause of the underperformance, which was the control of the pumps. To fix this a bespoke control panel was needed, which had a 26-week manufacturing lead time due to its specialist nature. Work to install the new control panel started in December 2023, and it was operational in January. We expect the SPS to be compliant with its flow permit for 2024.”

The combined sewer overflow at Picton, Haverfordwest -Credit:The Cleddau Project
The combined sewer overflow at Picton, Haverfordwest -Credit:The Cleddau Project

Huwel Manley, head of operations for south west for NRW, said: “Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) has to do better when it comes to their performance against permitted flow conditions across Wales, and we are pleased to be working with community groups such as the Cleddau Project to improve the quality of our rivers and seas. In June 2023 NRW were made aware of issues at Picton sewage pumping station in Haverfordwest. We were informed new pumps would be installed by October 31, 2023, and the water company was issued with a compliance assessment report (CAR) reflecting this.

“This work was not carried out by the deadline and a further CAR was issued. This escalated the situation, indicating there was potential for significant risk to the environment and a formal warning was sent. The work to install new pumps was confirmed as completed in February 2024.

"This pumping station is also subject to a formal legal investigation for another matter and this is being progressed with our legal team. As well as pushing for record levels of investment for the environment during the next investment period, we are also strengthening and increasing our frontline capacity for water company regulation. This will allow us to be more responsive to emerging issues.”

Citizen scientists across Wales are uncovering the state of Wales’ rivers all the time. In September Save the River Usk produced a comprehensive data report uncovering Welsh Water was failing on phosphate targets along most of the Usk. You can read more on that here.

Welsh Water points out its pumping of raw sewage into Wales’ rivers through its sewer overflows is one of many contributors to river pollution in Wales. They argue the majority of pollution in the Western and Eastern Cleddau comes from rural land use.

James Wallace, CEO of River Action, said: “The Cleddau Project should be applauded for their detective work. It’s a sad indictment of a failing water company and an under-resourced regulator when we rely on citizen scientists to raise the alarm on illegal pollution.

"The time for reckless neglect must end. Our rivers, wildlife and communities cannot endure this toxic blight on rivers across Wales. NRW must use the full force of the law to make Dŵr Cymru invest in its leaking infrastructure and end the era of sewage pollution.”

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