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Editor @[email protected] · 2026-05-14 · 14:19 UTC

GOWER: Protesters to rally at Caswell Bay this Saturday — one of Swansea’s Blue Flag beaches — as new data reveals Welsh Water’s worst decade for pollution

Caswell Bay — one of Swansea’s Blue Flag beaches, as recognised just this week — will be among the locations hosting a sewage protest this Saturday as grassroots charity Surfers Against Sewage mobilises demonstrators at more than 50 sites across the UK.

The Gower protest takes place at Caswell Bay at 10am on Saturday 16 May. A further demonstration is planned at Broad Haven in Pembrokeshire at 1.30pm, and at Porthcawl’s Coney Beach at 3pm.

The protests coincide with the start of the bathing season and new polling revealing that more than half of the UK public — 53% — worry they will get sick if they swim in rivers, lakes or seas due to poor water quality. One in six say they or someone they know has already become ill from sewage pollution.

Caswell Bay (Image: Visit Swansea)

The Welsh picture is stark. Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water discharged sewage more than 100,000 times in 2025, for over 813,000 hours. The company recorded its highest number of pollution incidents in a decade in 2024 and has now received a two-star environmental performance rating for three consecutive years.

NRW data published last year showed Welsh Water was responsible for 155 pollution incidents in 2024, including 132 linked to sewerage assets — a 42% rise over ten years. The Loughor estuary was among the worst-affected catchments. Welsh Water was subsequently ordered to pay a £45 million enforcement package after a watchdog found serious and unacceptable breaches in its operation of sewage works.

In Wales alone, Surfers Against Sewage received 202 sickness reports linked to polluted water in 2025. Welsh Water customers face annual bills of £639 — among the highest across England and Wales — while 41% of the company’s revenue goes towards servicing debt rather than improving infrastructure.

Kate Bassett-Jones, protest lead at Broad Haven, said the local beach saw 116 sewage alerts in 2025 alone — a pollution warning every three days.

“For a place renowned for its stunning coastline and thriving marine environment, this should not be happening,” she said. “Local people should be able to enjoy the sea safely all year round, and visitors should not have to worry about getting sick when they come to Pembrokeshire. Communities are fed up with sewage pollution being treated as normal. Enough is enough.”

A placard at the Bishopston Treatment Works protest

Saturday’s protest is not the first time Gower residents have taken direct action over the issue. A “Pooped Off” demonstration was previously held near Welsh Water’s Bishopston treatment works, with campaigners citing repeated discharges near Caswell and Brandy Cove.

Community groups have also been running their own water quality monitoring — Gower Society volunteers collected more than 275 samples across 13 beaches last winter, using Surfers Against Sewage laboratories, after NRW acknowledged it only has the budget to test between May and October.

Giles Bristow, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage, described Wales’s water system as catastrophically failing, with polluted waters, high bills and a lack of accountability.

“Welsh Water has spent years illegally dumping sewage, misleading regulators and using customer bills to pay executive bonuses, all whilst water users get sick and foot ever-increasing bills,” he said. “Meanwhile, a failing regulator plods along without proper funding or power to tackle the problem.”

Natural Resources Wales, which regulates the water industry in Wales, has been affected by repeated budget cuts and is increasingly viewed by campaigners as unfit for purpose. A Senedd committee has warned that it does not have the resources needed to properly protect Welsh waterways, while the regulator has announced plans to adopt a higher tolerance of risk when investigating pollution incidents.

Bristow said campaigners were paddling out across Wales to show the newly-elected Welsh Government they would not back down until it takes the action needed to end the sewage crisis.

Protesters are calling for legally binding targets to end untreated sewage discharges into Welsh waterways, more funding and enforcement powers for Natural Resources Wales, and a world-leading water quality testing programme. Currently, water quality testing takes place only during the May to September bathing season at designated bathing waters — while people in Wales swim, surf, kayak and fish year-round.

Among those joining protests elsewhere in the UK is Julie Maughan, whose daughter Heather Preen died from E. coli after visiting a Devon beach in 1999. Actors from Channel 4’s docudrama Dirty Business — which told Heather’s story and has drawn comparisons with Mr Bates vs the Post Office — are also supporting the protests.

Saturday’s protests follow commitments from all political parties during the recent Senedd election to tackle sewage pollution, which campaigners describe as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the Welsh water system.

The full list of Welsh protest locations on Saturday 16 May: Caswell Bay, Swansea (10am); Llanberis, Llyn Padarn (11am); Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire (1.30pm); Porthcawl, Coney Beach (3pm); Barry Island, Whitemore Bay (4pm); Aberystwyth, North Beach (6.30pm).

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

SWANSEA: Four of Swansea’s beaches once again fly the Blue Flag — as the city’s marina picks up the award too
Caswell, Langland, Port Eynon and Swansea Marina all retain their Blue Flag status in 2026.

Welsh Water told to pay £45m for ‘unacceptable’ sewage failures
Ofwat found serious and unacceptable breaches in how Welsh Water operated its sewage works, leading to excessive spills.

Welsh Water under pressure as sewage pollution incidents hit ten-year high
NRW data showing 132 sewerage pollution incidents in 2024 and the Loughor among the worst-affected catchments.

Residents say they’re ‘Pooped Off’ with Gower sewage spills
Gower residents staged a demonstration at Welsh Water’s Bishopston treatment works over repeated discharges near Caswell and Brandy Cove.

Gower volunteers’ success in winter-water testing to fight sewage in the sea
The Gower Society collected 275+ samples across 13 beaches last winter, filling the gap left by NRW’s May-October testing budget.

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