There were about 193 discharges of raw sewage from the Cwm Pumping Station in 2020, according to Dwr Cymru. This is a really alarming state of affairs.
NEW: We’ve been sent the latest update (dated 20th Jan 2022) by Cllr. Paul Harries. This is not encouraging. More investigations will follow.
Congratulations to Cllr. Paul Harries for his persistence in finally getting the statement below. You can read more about this and comment on the Llais Tydrath / Wellbeing Newport Facebook site.
The Cwm Pumping Station was constructed just 10 years ago. It seems to me that it is extraordinary that such a recent development is unable to cope with what should have been a predictable amount of ‘waste water’.
From Paul Harries: Please see below a statement from Dwr Cymru Welsh Water regarding the Cwm Pumping Station.
This is a result of protracted discussion over the last year. I am anticipating further answers to my questions.
Statement from Welsh Water
Re: Cwm Pumping Station
14 December 2021
We have recently undertaken a review of the spill monitor on our Cwm pumping station near Newport. The pumping station plays an essential role in pumping wastewater to our nearby wastewater treatment works for treatment before it is safely returned to the environment. During periods of heavy rain, the pump’s capacity can be exceeded when too much rainwater enters the system. When this happens, a safety system operates which releases stormwater from the system into the nearby sea which is necessary otherwise the wastewater would back up, potentially causing flooding to people’s homes and gardens. Around 95% of what is released to the sea under these conditions is rainwater.
During our recent review of the monitor on the pumping station which monitors the frequency and duration of spills, we unfortunately found that the monitor had not been calibrated correctly when it was installed. Regrettably this means that it has not been recording all of the spills as it should have.
This means that the number of spills is higher than we had originally reported. In 2020 we had reported that the number of spills was 24 however it is likely the number was around 193. It is important to point out however that while the station is operating more frequently than originally thought, there has been no deterioration in performance and this has not impacted the overall quality of the bathing water which this year achieved the Excellent standard in the 2021 Bathing Water Results. We would also add that the catchment area for our wastewater system here is relatively small therefore the amount of stormwater that is released is also relatively small which again means it is not impacting on the overall bathing water quality.
We appreciate that the fact the number of spills is higher will be disappointing to people and we do apologise for not having calibrated the monitor correctly in the first place. This has now been corrected and the monitor is recording the correct number of spills. The increase in reported spills has now triggered an investigation from our Wastewater Teams to better understand our Assets performance and where the excess flows are coming from.
Ends