MS takes Welsh Water to task as raw sewage runs onto popular beach
Richard Evans, local democracy reporter
Raw sewage “seeping” onto a popular beach has led to calls for Welsh Water to invest more in its pumping stations.
This week visitors reported sewage running onto West Shore beach in Llandudno from under a roller-shutter door at the Dale Road car park pumping station.
Now Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders says she has written to Welsh Water, demanding they invest in improving their pumping stations to prevent future problems.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mrs Finch Saunders said she is concerned due to the incident occurring during the height of the summer tourist season.
‘Blockage’
Welsh Water said the leak had been caused by a blockage, but the “foul water” did not “enter any watercourse and had no detrimental environmental impact”.
Mrs Finch Saunders said the incident led to sewage “seeping out near Dale Road car park”.
She said: “This is when the residents and visitors want to take a dip in the sea. Surfers Against Sewage are also finding that beaches in North Wales in my constituency have pollution levels that are much too high. It has got to stop.
“It is not acceptable. Our hotels are working flat out to accommodate our visitors. The kids are off school.
“I’ve written to Welsh Water, asking how it happened and when it is going to be fixed, so people can go back in the water. They are going to have to invest some money to stop this happening. We are at our full tilt now in August.”
She added: “The hoteliers are working flat out, and the last thing they need is people complaining they are coming to West Shore, which is a beautiful part of Llandudno, and the area is being blighted by this raw sewage.”
‘Foul water’
A Welsh Water spokesman said: “We can confirm there was a blockage at our pumping station in West Shore in Llandudno that resulted in a small amount of foul water seeping from the building.
“However, it did not enter any watercourse and had no detrimental environmental impact.
“A crew has attended earlier today to clear the blockage of wet wipes and carried out an initial clean-up.
“Due to the requirement for a deep clean, we have arranged for a full clean up using specialist kit.”
He added: “We would like to remind our customers not to dispose of any materials other than toilet roll down the toilet.
“Nappies, cotton buds, and wet wipes block our system. Similarly, pouring fat, oil, and grease down sinks can cause blockages.
“The issue of sewer abuse and the resulting flooding costs the company around £5 million a year. For more information on our ‘Stop the Block’ campaign, please visit dwrcymru.com.”
A Welsh Water spokesperson said: “We would like to clarify that the water that leaked as a result of a blockage at the pumping station did not reach West Shore Beach.”
Conwy County Council was contacted for a comment.
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Welsh water always manage to screw up our beaches. I am sure they are conspiring with the travel companies to ensure Welsh folk leave Wales for holidays abroad. We have world class beaches with sewage filled seas. You can look but don’t think of entering the waters unless you want dysentery and leave sticky and smelling of faeces.
If you double the number of people in a town in the form of tourists during peak season you also double the amount of effluent flushed down toilets. The bill for sufficient kit to deal with it however, falls on the shoulders of the permanent residents.
Dŵr Cymru raised prices by up to 30% in April. So what are they doing with the 30% extra revenue? They have a dreadful and filthy habit of discharging sewage into watercources, on to beached and into the sea which makes one wonder if they are competent and trustworthy enough to treat our drinking water efficiently. The sooner we can have a choice of which water company to buy from, like gas and electricity, the better.
Isn’t it strange that we did not appear to have such a serious problem with sewerage leakage or dumping when we were part of the EU with it’s trusted “blue flag” scheme. I can only assume that there has been a catastrophic deregulation in this area since our EU departure.