Wales' not for profit water company released sewage into rivers, lakes and seas for nearly 600,000 hours last year according to new data released for 2022. That equates to untreated sewage discharging into Welsh waterways non-stop for 68 years.
Welsh Water has to report the number of times it allows sewage to spill into waterways every year. In 2022, there were more than 83,000 spills where sewage was allowed to enter the natural system with untold damage to the environment. Just over 77,000 of these were classed as "significant". This is a small reduction on the number of releases the previous year, 2021.
It's not illegal for Welsh Water to dump sewage and the company - which paid its chief executive £232,000 in bonuses last year - has said it is too expensive to remove the combined storm overflows (CSOs) from its system. During periods of heavy rain, more water enters the infrastructure - some of which was built in the Victorian era - and CSOs help relieve the pressure in the system. But it means untreated sewage is released during the spill events and often contains things like human waste, toilet paper and hygiene material which pose a serious risk to local wildlife and swimmers.
