Local councillors are due to meet with representatives of Welsh Water this week to flag up concerns over sewage spills onto Tenby’s beaches.

Recent analysis of Environment Agency data revealed that Welsh Water had dumped sewage onto Blue Flag beaches 579 times, lasting an astonishing 6,757 hours.

MPs will hold a one-off session to examine sewage discharges in Wales on Wednesday (February 8). The Welsh Affairs Committee will be holding a one of two evidence sessions to examine the quality of water in Wales following widespread media coverage of sewage discharges. 

In 2020, there were 105,751 sewage spills into waterways across Wales recorded by event duration monitors (EDMs). Spills from combined storm overflows harm river health by introducing biological and chemical pollutants, changing water chemistry and polluting waterways with litter.

High levels of bacteria pose risks to public health and public concern over river health, public health and the aesthetics of pollution has a negative social impact.

The UK lags behind other European countries in water quality, and in 2018 the proportion of bathing water sites rated excellent was 63.2% compared to a European average of 85.1%.  

During this evidence session, likely topics that will be discussed include: How the Welsh and UK governments are tackling the problem of sewage discharges from storm overflows; The situation in Wales compared to the rest of the UK; The extent of unpermitted sewage spills in Wales; Whether reforms to storm overflows under the Environment Act 2021 that apply to England should be extended to Wales; and the available solutions to untreated sewage discharges. 

On January 27, a number of Conservative MPs voted down an amendment to stop private water companies from dumping raw sewage into the UK’s rivers and coastlines.

The vote angered many, with the Liberal Democrats stoking the flames with a list of those MPs who voted.

Ex-footballer and BBC host Gary Lineker waded into the debate on Twitter by highlighting the concerns raised in the post by the Lib Dems, who tweeted: ‘Last night, 292 Conservative MPs voted to allow sewage dumping by water companies in our rivers and coasts for at least 15 more years. Can you spot your MP on the list?’

Among them were local MPs Simon Hart, MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire; and Stephen Crabb, MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire.

Mr Hart was quick to highlight that the vote didn’t apply to Wales, stating: “The claims aren’t true and don’t apply in Wales because it’s devolved Welsh Government have failed to introduce an environment act,” before pointing to a ‘factsheet’ that stated that claims the Conservative Government had pushed back targets to clean up water from 2027 to 2063 were false.

With the Government stating it is making the biggest improvements to the water landscape in history, listed reasons on the factsheet the votes should be seen as progress included:

• On November 18 the Government tabled an amendment to Levelling Up Bill which will require the upgrade of wastewater treatment works in designated areas.

• The Government has introduced a new, legally binding target under the Environment Act 2021, to reduce the nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment contribution from agriculture into the water environment by at least 40%.

• Substantial improvements have been made to bathing water quality and in 2015, new stricter standards were introduced.

• No Government has done more to tackle the issue of storm overflow discharges.

• By 2035, water companies will have to improve all storm overflows discharging into or near every designated bathing water; and improve 75% of overflows discharging to high priority nature sites.

On the weekend the Surfers Against Sewage campaign group had their say, joining ‘dirty water’ campaign protesters in St Agnes, as part of the national day of action against sewage pollution.

Across the UK, blue plaques were unveiled to highlight local MPs who didn't vote in favour of an amendment which would have protected waterways.

A spokesperson for Surfers Against Sewage stated: “The scale of the problem is misrepresented by underreporting. That's why we need an enhanced, world-leading testing regime which gives a true picture of the UK's water quality.

“The UK Government must set out ambitious sewage legislation and legally-binding targets to end untreated sewage discharge in all bathing waters by 2030, and to reduce all untreated sewage discharges by 90% by 2030.

“Water companies must put the environment and public health above shareholder profits and CEO bonuses, and urgently invest in their sewage infrastructure and end the use of sewage overflows.

“We need the agricultural industry to amend practices to improve water quality, and for government to provide effective support to encourage this.

“We need action. No more delays and excuses. It's time to end sewage pollution.”

There were concerns raised days before the return of the Ironman Wales event (which begins with a sea swim on Tenby’s North Beach) last September, after it had been confirmed sewage was pumped into an area of the sea near to the course, with the ‘Surfers Against Sewage’ campaign group highlighting through its interactive map (which monitors sewage discharges on the UK coastline) that discharges had been made on Tenby’s Castle Beach.

Ten of Pembrokeshire’s beaches picked up the coveted Blue Flag for 2022, with the award recognised around the world as a symbol of quality.

Amongst the ten were Tenby’s Castle and South beaches, but there are fears that they too may lose this status in 2023, following the coastal town’s North beach which lost its Blue Flag status in 2022 after the standard of the bathing water dropped down from being rated as ‘Excellent’ to ‘Good’ after an assessment by Natural Resources Wales showed that visible pollution was found in the sea from sewage.

In the published report by NRW on the North Beach, the organisation stated: “Natural Resources Wales continues to work with Pembrokeshire County Council to identify any sources of pollution.

“NRW samplers make visual observations of the beach at every visit. This includes assessments of sewage debris, animal faeces, litter and oil or tar.

“At Tenby North, data are available for the four year assessment period from 2017-2020. Sewage debris was observed in trace amounts on less than ten per cent of occasions. Animal faeces was not noted at this site.

“Trace amounts of litter were observed at the bathing water between twenty and thirty percent of occasions. Oil and tarry residues were not noted at this site.

“Heavy rain falling on pavements and roads often flows into surface water drains or highway drains, ending up in local rivers and, ultimately, the sea. The quality of bathing water may be adversely affected as a result of such events.

“NRW has developed a good working relationship with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and liaises regularly to identify problems that could affect bathing water quality.

“Tenby’s sewage effluent is pumped to the relatively new Tenby Wastewater Treatment Works at Gumfreston, where it is biologically treated and disinfected with ultra-violet light, to protect the bathing water quality at Tenby beaches. This tertiary treated sewage is then discharged via, a long sea outfall.

“Within the Tenby catchment there are a number of storm, emergency and surface water outfalls, that discharge around the town. These protect domestic properties in Tenby from being flooded by sewage during periods of heavy rainfall.

“The main pumping stations are in Tenby Harbour and at the Salterns. The Harbour Pumping Station has recently been upgraded to improve performance.

NRW went onto say that a project known as Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) was underway to install telemetry on Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) within 2km of a bathing water, so that Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) know when the CSOs are operating and can work to reduce spills, with one CSO near Tenby’s North Beach is included in the project.

Cllr Duncan Whitehurst asked for his concerns over sewage spills to be put on the agenda of Tenby Town Council, with the clerk confirming that a representative of Welsh Water would be attending the next meeting on February 7.