It is shocking to hear that raw sewage is knowingly and illegally being discharged into our rivers and ultimately into our seas. We all know now that sewage and other types of pollution is a danger to human health, but we mustn’t forget that it also has a huge impact on animals and plants living our waters. The consequences of releasing sewage can also mean that a cocktail of bacteria, viruses, harmful chemicals and plastics are released into the marine environment. This coupled with warmer water temperatures this year is putting people, wildlife and the planet at risk.

Sewage pollution can be linked to processes such as eutrophication, an increase in nutrients in the water that increases the amount of plant and algae growth. When these start to die off they are eaten by bacteria which reduces the amount of oxygen in the water killing fish and other organisms.

It is awful to hear the number of plants that discharge raw sewage into the waterways in Wales and sewage plants in our local area being one of the worst culprits.

As far as we are aware there is no regular monitoring of the impact of sewage discharges in the River Teifi. High nutrient levels coming from sewerage lead to algal blooms that lead to the depletion of oxygen in rivers which has an impact on our fish populations and to other aquatic species which in turn has an impact on other wildlife.