A Dark Secret Unveiled
BBC’s rigorous investigation into Welsh Water has brought to light the water company’s unauthorized disposal of raw sewage at multiple treatment sites over an extended period. The revelations were a result of an in-depth analysis of the company’s own records.
Cardigan, located in west Wales, stood out as one of the most egregious offenders. For over ten years, untreated sewage has been dumped into an environmentally sensitive region, alarmingly close to a unique dolphin habitat.
While Welsh Water does not contest the findings, they emphasize their ongoing efforts to rectify these glaring breaches. The damning evidence was supplied to BBC News by Peter Hammond, an esteemed mathematician and ex-professor from University College London, who now champions the cause of the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) campaign group.
The UK predominantly employs a combined sewerage system, wherein rainwater and wastewater—from domestic utilities like toilets, bathrooms, and kitchens—are routed via the same pipelines. This effluent typically culminates at a sewage treatment facility. In events of torrential rainfall, to avert inundation of these facilities, discharging untreated sewage is provisioned. However, any premature release, before hitting the prescribed overflow threshold, is a legal violation.
Prof. Hammond’s inquiry encompassed 11 sewage treatment plants in Wales. His findings were alarming: 10 out of these 11 plants were culpable of unlawfully releasing untreated sewage during periods they should have been processing it.
Cardigan’s infractions were especially grave, recording spills on over 200 days annually between 2019 and 2022. The data indicated that this plant consistently failed to treat the sewage volume it was mandated to handle. Per its operating license, Cardigan should process 88 litres of sewage per second prior to any release. However, the facility flouted this stipulation, unlawfully dumping sewage for a cumulative 1,146 days from the onset of 2018 till May 2023.
Shedding light on this glaring misconduct, Prof. Hammond remarked, “In terms of unauthorized discharges, this is by far the most grievous sewage treatment facility I’ve encountered.”
It remains to be seen what corrective measures Welsh Water will undertake and what penalties they might face for such prolonged environmental negligence.