Pollution alerts are in place at six Welsh beaches with swimmers urged to stay away from the water. The warnings were issued by Safer Seas & Rivers Service, which looks at water quality at over 400 locations around UK rivers and coastlines.
On Monday (September 5) there were warnings at a number of beaches on the west coast of the country. It comes as Wales experiences a change from the hot and dry weather as an area of low pressure brings more unsettled weather. Read more about the yellow weather warning in place here.
Natural Resources Wales has warned that "rainfall could lead to localised flooding from drains, ditches and small streams which may be unable to cope with intense rainfall". There are the warnings on the six beaches:
Newport North
"Bathing not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.
"Newport North is a wide, sweeping and sandy beach measuring some 1.5 km in length. Facing north west out into the Irish Sea, the beach is backed by a golf club and agricultural land.
"A relatively new sewage treatment works discharges biologically treated sewage effluent via the long sea outfall, some 700m from the coast into Newport Bay."
Poppit West
"Bathing not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.
"Measuring approximately 600m in length, this north west facing bay is backed by sand dunes and is divided by the River Teifi, which flows onto the beach. Discharges from sewer overflows can occur in the area and affect water quality especially after heavy rainfall."
Llangrannog
"Bathing not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.
"Measuring just over 100 metres in width, with interbedded mudstone and sandstone cliffs on either side, the sandy, sheltered beach has a distinctive large rock on the shore?s edge. This location is covered by Pollution Risk Forecasting."
Traeth Gwyn New Quay
"Pollution Risk Warning: Bathing not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.
"Facing north and located within the waters of Cardigan Bay, Traeth Gwyn is a sandy cove, backed by steep cliffs. Traeth Gwyn is potentially impacted by numerous sewer and surface water outfalls within the main freshwater rivers particularly during heavy rainfall."
Aberystwyth South
"Pollution Risk Warning: Bathing not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.
"A sheltered, sloping sand and shingle beach in the middle of Cardigan Bay. The beach is 350m wide, dound between the castle and harbour breakwater. The beach is backed by the town."
Aberdyfi
"Pollution Risk Warning: Bathing not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.
"Aberdyfi is a sandy beach stretching over three miles located at the mouth of the River Dyfi. A harbour can be found to the east of the beach, with sand dunes to the north west. Sailing and windsurfing are popular but swimmers should be aware of strong currents here due to the Dyfi estuary outflow. There is a Combined Sewage Overflow in the town centre, with an emergency overflow into the Dyfi Estuary, close to the jetty."
The UK Government's water minister threatened to fine companies last month after it emerged that in addition to sewage releases, billions of gallons of water is being lost in leaks on a daily basis. Steve Double insisted water firms needed to do more to ensure they can withstand future droughts.
"Water companies must continue to invest more, including to prevent leakage and work faster to fix leaks," he told The Mail. "We are losing somewhere between 15 to 20% annually through leakage, which is not acceptable. Progress has been made but my message to water companies is they need to prioritise customers, not shareholder returns. If we don't see the progress we expect, we won't hesitate to take further action. The public and Government rightly expect more from our water companies."
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