Six of the worst polluted rivers in the UK are in Wales. In just one year England and Wales’ waterways had sewage pumped into them for at least 3.4m hours, according to recent figures. Data from 2021 has revealed the horrifying extent to which rivers, canals, the sea, and other bodies have been polluted by water companies.
It has also highlighted the most polluted local rivers across England and Wales in a list of the worst where just one waterway had sewage pumped into it on over 2,500 separate occasions. Numbers from the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales – crunched by Top of the Poops – has also revealed the water companies most often found spilling sewage into the country’s water.
The River Severn, which runs between England and Wales, was the most polluted river and had seen 28,741 hours of sewage pumped into it on 2,656 occasions by Severn Trent Water. The rivers in Wales included in the list are the River Teifi, River Usk, River Wye, River Tawe, Menai Strait, and River Taf.
The total of six led Undertones singer and keen fisherman Feargal Sharkey, who is on a mission to protect the UK's rivers and streams, to tweet: "What on earth is going on in Wales, Welsh Water @Dwr Cymru with an utterly despicable record of 6 of the most polluted rivers. Get a grip."
The 20 most polluted rivers in England and Wales and responsible water companies
- River Severn - Severn Trent Water
- River Calder - Yorkshire Water
- River Aire - Yorkshire Water
- Unknown - South West Water
- River Derwent - Severn Trent Water
- River Ouse - Yorkshire Water
- River Tamar - South West Water
- River Trent - Severn Trent Water
- River Teifi - Dwr Cymru
- River Eden - United Utilities
- River Erewash - Severn Trent Water
- River Usk - Dwr Cymru
- River Irwell - United Utilities
- River Wye - Dwr Cymru
- River Don - Yorkshire Water
- River Wharfe - Yorkshire Water
- River Tawe - Dwr Cymru
- Menai Strait - Dwr Cymru
- River Rother - Southern Water
- River Taf - Dwr Cymru.
A spokesman for Dwr Cymru said: “Welsh Water has monitors on 99% of our storm overflows, more than any other water company, and given Wales also receives more rainfall than England this results in these storm overflows operating more often. It is therefore unsurprising that we currently record larger numbers of spills than others.
"Nonetheless we are committed to protecting the environment and investing over £900m to protect the environment between 2020 and 2025. With 44% of Welsh rivers achieving good ecological status, compared to 16% in England, we are playing our part by investing to prevent any water body in Wales failing good ecological status by 2030 as a result of our wastewater treatment works.
"We are also continuing to assess the environmental impact of storm overflows, undertaking more research than other water companies, so that we can, in conjunction with our environmental regulators, understand the range of factors impacting on river water quality and this includes agreeing a programme of work to improve any storm overflows that may be having an impact.”
These figures come as UK Government ministers were reportedly about to row back on massive multimillion fines for water companies spilling sewage. UK environment secretary Therese Coffey reportedly thinks that fines of up to £250m for such polluters are “disproportionate”. But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, during a visit to Oldham, that he would “welcome tougher fines for water companies”.
The 10 most polluted coastal spots in England and Wales and responsible water companies
- Morecambe South - United Utilities
- New Brighton - United Utilities
- Southport, St Annes Pier, St Annes North and Blackpool South - United Utilities
- Haverigg, Walney Biggar Bank, Walney West Shore, and Walney Sandy Gap - United Utilities
- St Annes - United Utilities
- Seascale - United Utilities
- Allonby - United Utilities
- Plymouth Hoe (east) - South West Water
- Morfa Nefyn - Dwr Cymru
- Rhyl - Dwr Cymru
A spokesman from Natural Resources Wales said: “NRW is concerned about the impact of storm discharges on our water quality. We are taking action to address the issue via the Wales Better River Quality Taskforce. The taskforce brings together Welsh Government, NRW, Ofwat, Dŵr Cymru, and Hafren Dyfrdwy with independent advice from Afonydd Cymru and the Consumer Council for Water. Collaboratively the taskforce has published a series of action plans to gather greater evidence on the impact of storm overflows on our rivers and the sea to reduce the impacts they cause, to improve regulation, and to educate the public on sewer misuse.
“Water companies have a responsibility to the environment, as well as their customers, and they must take this issue seriously. We will continue to challenge the water companies to make sure storm overflows are properly controlled. We will investigate any cases of non-compliance and where appropriate take the required enforcement action.”
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